# Telcos' Tariff Push Hits Affordability Wall

> Airtel's Rs 299 plan return shows telecom operators' struggle to raise prices without losing customers.
- Title: Telcos' Tariff Push Hits Affordability Wall · Financialexpress
- Summary: Airtel's Rs 299 plan return shows telecom operators' struggle to raise prices without losing customers.
- Keywords: telcos, airtel, reliance jio, trai, arpu, tariff, affordability, mobile broadband, Financialexpress
- Source: Financialexpress — https://financialexpress.com/business/news/telcos-tariff-push-hits-affordability-wall/4379822
- Author: Urvi Malvania
- Published: 2026-11-08T17:52:20+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: telcos, airtel, reliance jio, trai, arpu, tariff, affordability, mobile broadband, business, money, news
## Telcos' Tariff Push Hits Affordability Wall
Telcos' pursuit of higher average revenue per user is constrained by how much subscribers can afford to pay for connectivity.
## Bharti Airtel's Pricing Strategy
Airtel's managing director and CEO Shashwat Sharma says the industry's pricing architecture is too flat, allowing unlimited data without adequate monetisation.

> When we speak about pricing architecture in the industry, it’s largely got to do with the fact that it’s a very flat architecture and at very low arpus, you’re giving away unlimited usage and data and you’re not monetising consumption in any way
## Jio's Performance Metrics
Jio added 9.1 million subscribers in September quarter while monthly churn remained unchanged at 1.6% and arpu rose 1.5% to rs 218.8.
## Airtel's Tariff Rationalisation
Airtel removed its rs 299 prepaid plan in August, leading to higher churn as competitors maintained similar pricing options.
## Airtel Restores Rs 299 Plan
Airtel has reintroduced the rs 299 plan with daily data reduced from 1.5 gb to 1 gb to retain affordability.
## 2G Penetration and Affordability
261 million subscribers remain on 2g networks as of june 2026, with rural mobile broadband penetration at 45%.
## Premium Service Additions
Airtel added international roaming benefits to postpaid plans while vodafone idea introduced roaming benefits across 170 countries.
## Key takeaway

Airtel's reintroduction of its Rs 299 plan after a tariff cut highlights the affordability constraints on telecom operators' efforts to increase revenue per user.