India no longer holds the title of being the most affordable country for telecom services worldwide, as per a recent report by ICICI Securities. The report reveals that countries like Bangladesh and Egypt now provide cheaper basic plan tariffs in comparison. While India has improved its affordability rankings, it still offers generous service allowances, especially for voice calls. In India, even the basic plans come with unlimited voice calling, a feature that is not as common in countries like Bangladesh and Egypt where users are limited to 100 and 70 minutes, respectively.
The report highlights, ‘From an affordability standpoint, India is no longer the cheapest for telecom services.’ Additionally, Indian telecom operators stand out by providing 26 GB of extra data for just an additional Rs 100, translating to a mere Rs 4 per GB. This places India as one of the most data-affordable countries globally. Notably, Indonesia is the only country with a base plan comparable to India’s, as most nations have base plan prices almost double that of India.
Even in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), India’s telecom tariffs are still among the most affordable globally. The report points out that in comparison to China, India’s base plan remains 21% cheaper. Despite this cost advantage, China offers significantly lower service allowances for both voice and data in contrast to India. The analysis also suggests that India appears even more affordable relative to its peers when evaluating smartphone plans, which generally come with higher data limits.
On the revenue side, the report highlights a 13.5% increase in the average revenue per user (ARPU) for Indian telecom companies between FY19 and FY25, surpassing inflation rates. However, over a 10-year period, the ARPU has grown at a rate of 3.4% annually, still lagging behind inflation despite industry consolidation. The sustainability of this growth in the long term remains a point of consideration.
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