Airtel and Jio may soon withdraw unlimited 5G data plan for premium customers to boost revenue

This move is aimed at increasing monetization and driving sales growth.

Airtel, Jio Unlimited 5G Data Plan: Media reports on Saturday said telecom providers Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel might soon discontinue their unlimited 5G data plans for premium customers. Analysts say the companies are likely to charge at least 5-10 percent more for 5G services compared to 4G from the second half of 2024, the Economic Times reported.

This move is aimed at increasing monetization and driving sales growth.

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are also expected to hike mobile tariffs by at least 20 percent in the September quarter of 2024 to improve their ROI (return on capital employed) on 5G infrastructure investments and customer acquisition costs, industry experts said.

The other two telecom players Vodafone-Idea and state-owned BSNL are yet to introduce 5G services in the country.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel in partnership with Ericsson has successfully tested Ericsson's pre-commercial Reduced Capability (RedCap) software on the Airtel 5G network.

The tests on the 5G TDD network, conducted in collaboration with chipmaker Qualcomm using its 5G RedCap test module, represent the first deployment and validation of RedCap in India.

Ericsson RedCap is a new software solution for radio access networks (RAN) that creates new 5G use cases and enables more 5G connections from devices such as smartwatches, other wearables, industrial sensors and AR/VR devices, the company said.

(With IANS inputs)