When it comes to the Indian market, things are pretty clear as to what the operators want to do next and how the tariffs will change in the future. But until now, one thing that the private operators in the country, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, have ensured is that Indians keep getting data at one of the cheapest rates globally. While the data price has increased by a good margin, it is still pretty affordable. Amongst all the private telcos, Jio is the one which is offering the lowest tariffs in the country. Because Jio’s tariffs are not too high, Airtel and Vi can’t go upwards with pricing again, or else they will lose market share. But the tariff hikes are coming in the near future. Before that, let’s take a look at where India stands globally in terms of how affordable the data rates are.
How Affordable is Data in India as Compared to Other Countries
According to a report published by Cable.co.uk, India stands at the fifth position globally in offering the cheapest data tariffs. The average cost of 1GB of mobile data in India costs $0.17. The top four countries in the list with the most affordable data are - Israel ($0.04), Italy ($0.12), San Marino ($0.14) and Fiji ($0.15). But if you are someone who lives in South Korea, sympathy goes out to you. The average cost of 1GB of data in South Korea is $12.55. But India’s rank will definitely change in the coming months when another round of tariff hikes is implemented. Right now, the top two telcos are close to the ARPU (average revenue per user) figure of Rs 200. But this is not where the telcos want to stop. While Jio almost never comments on ARPU, it is Vi and Airtel that want it to reach Rs 300 figure.
