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the End of Free 5G in India
In October 2022, 5G services began to roll out in India. Reliance Jio and Airtel, the country's biggest telecom companies, were the first to provide 5G services to their clients. They have almost 125 million 5G subscribers together. The businesses have been selling 5G access at 4G rates and unlimited 5G data with chosen plans. However, analysts now believe that the companies will soon discontinue their unlimited 5G offering and will likely raise 5G plan rates over the current 4G plans.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel would withdraw their unlimited 5G data plans.
According to an Economic Times story quoting analysts, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel would withdraw their unlimited 5G data plans for subscribers and charge at least 5-10% more for 5G services than 4G starting in the second half of 2024 to promote monetisation and revenue growth.
Jio and Airtel have been offering 5G connectivity at 4G rates
Jio and Airtel have been offering 5G connectivity at 4G rates and unlimited data plans to entice existing subscribers to upgrade to the next-generation wireless broadband service for nearly a year, according to the report. Analysts predict this will soon change as Jio and Airtel prepare to roll out 5G services nationwide and focus on monetisation as adoption levels rise. Notably, the number of 5G subscribers in India is expected to surpass 200 million by the end of 2024.
According to the research, industry analysts expect that the two telecom firms will raise mobile prices by at least 20% in the September quarter of 2024 to enhance their RoCE (return on capital employed) while also addressing investments in 5G and higher customer acquisition costs.
While Airtel and Jio's purported 5G plans are likely to be 5-10% more expensive than 4G plans, the network providers may include 30-40% more data in these bundles to encourage usage and improve their market share in the meantime, as Vodafone Idea (Vi), another leading telecom operator, has yet to launch 5G services in the country, according to the report.