Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal believes India's telecom industry is looking at the wrong end of the pricing debate. Instead of making entry-level plans more expensive, telecom operators should focus on getting higher-paying customers to spend more, he said, arguing that consumers who can comfortably afford a monthly bill of Rs 2,000 are currently paying just Rs 500.
"The repair of the tariff has to happen, not at the bottom," Mittal said in an interview with NDTV CEO and Editor-In-Chief Rahul Kanwal on Walk the Talk.
Mittal argued that India's telecom services remain among the most affordable globally, with entry-level plans costing around Rs 200 a month. For that amount, consumers get access to services ranging from banking and healthcare records to UPI payments, social media and video streaming.
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He questioned whether there was any widespread complaint about affordability, pointing out that consumers receive extensive digital services for just a few rupees a day.
"People who can afford to pay Rs 2,000 are also paying Rs 500. That part needs to go up," he said.
Mittal illustrated his argument by comparing telecom spending with discretionary consumption. A customer who readily tips Rs 500 at a five-star hotel, he suggested, should not hesitate to spend Rs 2,000 a month on mobile data.
The comments come as Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU) has climbed to around Rs 271, with the company seeing a long-term opportunity to take it towards Rs 350. Asked whether this could mean further tariff increases over the coming months, Mittal maintained that the industry did not need to burden its lower-income customers.
For Mittal, the bigger concern is the financial health of India's telecom operators. He argued that the industry needs financially strong players with sufficient resources to invest in network expansion and emerging technologies, particularly as India prepares for the next phase of digital infrastructure development.
He cited the US, China and the UK as examples of markets with three major telecom operators, arguing that excessive fragmentation can weaken balance sheets, dilute spectrum resources and eventually hurt investment.
"Fragment the balance sheet, you fragment the spectrum, you fragment financial viability, you get nothing," he said, warning that India needs financially sustainable telecom companies to prepare for technologies such as 6G.
Mittal also pushed back against concerns that fewer operators could give companies greater pricing power. In his view, the affordability of India's telecom services and the scale of data consumption offer a strong case for better monetisation.
He said consumers are increasingly using mobile networks for digital payments, government services, banking and entertainment, while monthly data consumption of 35-36 GB has become commonplace.
He even suggested that customers should be willing to pay an additional Rs 50 if it helps operators invest in better digital infrastructure and services.
Beyond telecom, Mittal said Bharti Airtel is preparing for another strategic shift, with investments spanning artificial intelligence, data centres, cloud infrastructure, satellite connectivity and financial services.
He said Airtel's existing fibre network and submarine cable infrastructure give it an advantage in the data centre business, although access to land, buildings and power remains essential.
On AI, Mittal cautioned that the global investment frenzy could eventually cool, drawing parallels with the dotcom bubble. While artificial intelligence is here to stay, he expects weaker players to fall away as the market matures.
He also said India remains relatively early in its data centre investment cycle and could benefit if global capital shifts towards emerging markets.
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