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Home » News » Telecom » Airtel Unwilling to Slash Messaging Rates
Airtel Unwilling to Slash Messaging Rates
By: IANS   |   Sep 16, 2008
Telecom operator, Bharti Airtel said it is unlikely to slash its messaging charges as desired by India's telecom regulator, saying rates in the country are the lowest globally.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently asked mobile operators to voluntarily slash tariffs.

"It is a wrong notion… I have not seen anyone complaining of the high SMS (short messaging service) rates," said Bharti Enterprises CEO and managing director Akhil Gupta.

Gupta said the market is very competitive and the prices in the country are perhaps the lowest globally.

On an average, telecom operators earn around 20 paise per SMS.

The average tariff for local calls is Re.1, the same as the local SMS rate, while for long distance calls, the average tariff is Rs.1.50 and the SMS rate is higher at Rs.2.

Operators have resisted the move, as SMS makes up 50 percent of their revenue from the value-added services (VAS).

The situation has become tougher as the average revenue per user has dropped, and VAS revenues remain critical to an operator's profitability.

However, this is not the first time that TRAI has urged service providers to reduce the SMS cost. The regulatory body had asked operators to slash SMS rates two years ago too.
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there IS scope for improvement anyday. while im not complaining abt the low tariff now - they can still introduce competition. you cant simply compare India and say USA. the average revenue per user will go up slowly, since we are a developing nation - not a developed nation already. they still have ridiculous prices for ANY of the VAS. internet prices are nonsense to say the least.
ashok pai @ Sep 22, 2008
The prices in the country is the lowest in the world because our average income is low. If they start charging the same rates as that of other countries no one will buy a mobile phone. I wonder how these guys were making profits a few years ago when 100 SMS's cost only a rupee each day...
Ajay @ Sep 17, 2008
AIRTEL CEO is mistaken, all college going students including me use SMS extensively.
Airtel has the best network compared to the others, they need to slash call and sms rates. In chandigarh, vodafone has packs with 10p call and 10p sms, airtel on the other hand has 30p call and 20p sms on prepaid.

They need to take steps to lower down the rates, otherwise how can they earn revenue.
Aadil Prabhakar @ Sep 17, 2008
SMS is rates must be slashed.
They can earn through VAS who cares, But they must reduce the charges for SMS.
Tamil Selvan @ Sep 17, 2008
its actually quite silly and ironical.long distance calls Rs.1.50 and sms Rs.2,but then its how the market has fanned out in india.but i'm sure sometime in near future mobile operators will have to correct this anamoly
paul @ Sep 17, 2008
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