The Silicon Review ^Asia

Reliance Jio Infocomm has raised its tariffs by nearly 40%, suggesting that the days of the price war in the telecom sector may still not be over. The MukeshAmbani-led telecom company had started a tariff battle in the sector with its entry in 2016, and now it has increased its headline price plans for the first time since its launch.

“These plans will provide up to 300% more benefits to the Jio consumers (compared with previous plans), upholding the Jio promise of providing the best quality service at the lowest price globally,” the telco said in a news release. The firm also released the additional benefits to increase the calling time during which Jio subscribers can call other companies sim holders without being charged.

Some of its new price plans include unlimited voice calls which would be 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 or even 12,000 minutes.In October, Jio started charging voice calls made to the subscribers of other networks, to account for the six-paise-a-minute termination charge it has to pay under local rules.

The price hike is expected to improve the telco’saverage revenue per user (ARPU) In line with Jio’s move, Vodafone Idea and Airtel had rolled out a ‘fair usage policy’ as part of their latest tariff hikes. For Jio’s 355-million-plus subscribers, the new plans will be effective December 6.