While most telecom operators are seen reducing benefits to realize the hefty investment in the recent spectrum auction, Reliance is all set to hike call rates just as predicted earlier.
According to sources, Reliance Communications will hike voice call rates starting from April 25 to compensate for the rising input costs and high spectrum payments. Tariffs of discounted and promotional plans are expected to be hiked by 20 percent and the call tariffs are said to be hiked to 1.6 paise per second from the existing 1.5 paise.
Meanwhile reports suggest that Reliance will be downsizing by laying off as many as 5500 employees. Similarly, other major operators like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are continuously cutting discounts that were previously offered. Most of the operators solely depend on the voice services for revenues.
Speaking about the move, Gurdeep Singh, CEO – Reliance Communications, said, “We continue to focus on growing profitable/paid minutes on our network and the current tariff hikes are part of our continued efforts to reduce free and discounted minutes, and offset the ever-rising costs of input materials.”
