Rising prices of data and devices are raising concerns over the rapid spread of digitization, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday.
The comments came in the backdrop of a recent hike of 57 percent in the minimum monthly recharge plan by the country’s second largest telco Bharti Airtel.
“Rising data costs or device costs are a concern because they are a barrier to rapid digitization,” Chandrasekhar said.
The minister said he was not exactly aware of Airtel’s hike in mobile service rates and the ministry may approach telecom regulator Trai to check whether the hike will have a short-term or long-term impact.
He said there was an impact on prices worldwide due to the war between Russia and Ukraine and that the impact on the price of data needed to be investigated.
Bharti Airtel has increased the price of its minimum recharge for a 28-day mobile phone service plan by around 57 percent to Rs 155 in eight circles including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh West.
The company has stopped its Rs 99 minimum recharge plan, under which it offered 200 megabytes of data and talk at Rs 2.5 paise per second. In Haryana and Odisha, Airtel has now started offering Rs 155 plan with unlimited calling, 1GB data and 300 SMS.
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