- Bharti Airtel discontinued its Rs 299 unlimited base plan, now starting at Rs 349
- The revised base plan offers 1.5GB data per day for 28 days, up from 1GB previously
- Several other prepaid plans including Rs 319, Rs 649, and Rs 799 were also discontinued
Bharti Airtel Ltd. on Wednesday announced that the company has discontinued its 'Unlimited Base Plan' of Rs 299. The revised base plan now starts at Rs 349. The Rs 299 plan was one of the company's most popular plans, according to analysts. The revised base plan represents a 16.7% ARPU increase.
Airtel has also discontinued the Rs 319, Rs 649, and Rs 799 prepaid plans as of today. Analysts at Centrum Broking said that together, this is one of Airtel's biggest single-day prepaid portfolio cleanups in a while. "It appears to be part of Airtel tariff rationalisation plan," the analysts noted.
"The Rs 579 and Rs 619 packs have also been removed, though so far only in some regions, including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Meanwhile, the Rs 859 plan hasn't been removed, but its price has been hiked to Rs 899. While, Rs 349 is now cheapest unlimited plan," shared analysts at Centrum Broking.
The analysts further noted that Airtel has made certain changes in prepaid plans. It has discontinued Rs299 plan which was base 28 days plan with 1GB data per day. Now base plan is Rs349 for 28days with data allowance of 1.5GB per day.
Also, Bharti has discontinued few 56days & 90days plans which were anyways were not popular. "We understand comany's are discontinuing less popular plans. But we see some positive impact from discontinuation of Rs299 plan," the analysts noted.
The development comes about a week after the telco posted its quarterly results. The telecom major reported a nearly 12% sequential rise in consolidated net profit for the June quarter, while revenue crossed the Rs 58,500-crore mark, supported by steady subscriber monetisation and an improvement in average revenue per user (ARPU).
The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,167 crore for the quarter, up 11.5% sequentially from Rs 7,325 crore. The figure, however, was below the Rs 8,543 crore consensus estimate.Revenue from operations rose 5.7% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 58,539 crore, surpassing the Street estimate of Rs 56,896 crore.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 5.8% to Rs 33,303 crore, higher than the estimated Rs 32,510 crore. EBITDA margin was largely unchanged at 56.88%, compared with 56.86% in the previous quarter, but was marginally below the 57.1% estimate.
Bharti Airtles shares closed 1.56% at Rs 1,945 per share on Wednesday, compared to the 0.15% decline at the Nifty 50.
.ALSO READ: Bharti Airtel Q1 Results: Profit Rises 12%, Revenue Exceeds Rs 58,500 Crore; ARPU Sees Uptick
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