Big news in the telecom space – Bharti Airtel has withdrawn a set of entry-level prepaid data plans with effect from Tuesday, a move brokerage JM Financial believes is aimed at nudging subscribers toward pricier packs rather than a formal tariff hike. Rival telecom operators are yet to announce similar changes, though analysts expect them to follow within days.

Airtel prepaid plans discontinued: Rs 299, Rs 579, Rs 649 packs removed 

The company has discontinued its 28-day plan priced at Rs 299, which offered 1GB of data per day, according to the JM Financial report. 

Airtel has also pulled its 56-day plan priced at Rs 579 plan which offered 1.5GB a day, and another 56-day plan priced at Rs 649, which offered 2GB a day. Furthermore, a one-month plan priced at Rs 319, which offered 1.5GB a day, and a 28-day plan priced at Rs 398, which offered 2GB a day, have also been removed. 

With the Rs 299 plan gone, Airtel’s cheapest daily-data option now starts at Rs 349, which comes bundled with 1.5GB a day and unlimited 5G access. According to JM Financial, the removal of the 56-day packs appears designed to push users toward the 84-day plans instead.

The brokerage noted that some of the withdrawn packs, such as the Rs 319 and Rs 398 plans, may have a limited impact on the business since Airtel continues to sell its Rs 349 and Rs 379 plans, which offer broadly similar benefits.

ALSO READ

Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio have not altered their prepaid line-up so far. Airtel’s Rs 299 1GB-a-day plan remains available on VIL’s network, but only in select circles.

Airtel tariff hike? Why analysts call the prepaid plan changes a premiumisation strategy 

The brokerage pointed to a similar pattern last August, when Reliance Jio withdrew its Rs 249 entry-level plan from digital channels while keeping it available offline, and made its Rs 299 pack the default entry point online. Airtel had also discontinued a 24-day Rs 249 plan around the same time, while keeping its Rs 299 28-day option, which has now also been removed.

The pattern, as per the brokerage, pointed to telecom operators steadily retiring their cheapest data packs rather than raising prices on existing ones. This is a strategy meant to lift average revenue per user without the political and consumer backlash that comes with an outright hike.

Airtel ARPU impact: How plan changes could boost revenue per user 

Airtel had 363 million subscribers as of the June quarter. Of these, 153 million are on 5G plans and 82 million use non-data connections, leaving roughly 128 million subscribers, or about 35% of the base, on other plans, largely the 1GB and 1.5GB daily packs that have now been trimmed.

The brokerage estimates that if a tenth of Airtel’s subscriber base moves to plans priced roughly Rs 50 higher, the company’s blended average revenue per user could rise by Rs 5 to 6, or close to 2%, from the Rs 264 recorded in the June quarter. That shift is projected to lift India EBITDA and the brokerage’s valuation of the stock by about 1% each, the report noted. 

ALSO READ

Should Vodafone Idea make comparable changes, JM Financial estimated that its ARPU could rise by Rs 7 to 8, or about 4%, from Rs 177 in the same quarter, with a similar EBITDA impact of around 2% and a 3% lift to valuation, assuming 15% of its subscribers trade up.

Every Rs 5 increase in ARPU adds roughly Rs 12 billion to Airtel’s India wireless EBITDA for the financial year ending March 2027, a gain of about 1%, and adds close to Rs 21 to the brokerage’s per-share valuation, the report said.

Bharti Airtel share price target: JM Financial retains ‘buy’ rating at Rs 2,400 

JM Financial has kept its ’Buy’ rating on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 2,400, implying an upside of about 25% from the current market price of Rs 1,917. According to the brokerage, industry-wide wireless ARPU is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of about 12% between FY26 and FY29, driven by regular tariff actions of this kind alongside efforts by operators to premiumise their subscriber base.