Bharti Airtel ne apne ek popular 84-day prepaid plan mein ₹30 ka chhota sa price hike kiya hai. Ab yeh plan ₹859 se badh kar ₹899 ka ho gaya hai. Is move ka main reason hai company ka Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) thoda improve karna aur users ko apne 5G network ki taraf shift hone ke liye encourage karna. Yeh koi ekdum se sabhi plans mein price badhane jaisa nahi hai, balki ek smart adjustment hai. Achambhe ki baat yeh hai ki is plan mein pehle milne wala RewardsMini subscription ab remove kar diya gaya hai, toh total value thodi kam ho gayi hai.
India mein telecom market kaafi competitive hai yaar. Competition mein sabse aage Reliance Jio hai, jiska ek similar 84-day plan ₹799 mein aata hai, aur usmein bhi daily 1.5 GB data, unlimited calls, 100 SMS milte hain, saath mein JioTV aur JioCinema ka access bhi. Vodafone Idea (Vi) ka ₹859 wala plan bhi lagbhag same benefits ke saath aata hai, plus extra data aur other offers. ARPU ki baat karein toh Airtel abhi bhi sabse aage hai, Q3FY26 mein ₹259 ke saath. Uske baad Jio ka ₹213.7 aur Vi ka ₹186 hai. Analysts predict kar rahe hain ki FY26 tak sector ka average ARPU ₹220 tak pahunch sakta hai, aur Airtel ka target toh ₹300 ARPU tak jaane ka hai. Yeh sab 5G ke spread aur users ke higher-value plans lene se hi possible hai.
Par haan, yeh ₹30 ka price increase Airtel ke total revenue mein kuch khaas fark nahi dalega abhi. Aur RewardsMini hatane se ho sakta hai kuch users ko lagge ki value kam ho gayi hai. Jio ka ₹799 wala plan price-sensitive customers ko attract kar sakta hai. Company ke stock mein pichhle ek saal mein -2.23% ka giravat aaya hai aur FY26 performance mein bhi -15.64% ki kami dikhi hai. Lekin analysts abhi bhi bullish hain; Nirmal Bang ne ₹2,525 ka target diya hai aur kuch analysts ₹1,900 ka target dekh rahe hain. Crisil Ratings ne bhi Airtel ko 'Crisil AAA/Stable' rating di hai. Sector mein lag raha hai ki July 2026 tak ek aur price hike aa sakti hai. Company apne Home/Digital business aur data centers mein bhi invest kar rahi hai jisse future mein growth ki ummeed hai.
