Idea Cellular has increased its mobile data prices by up to 100% for some of its pre-paid 2G plans in Delhi-NCR, while data prices for its 3G plans have gone by around 33%, reports Business Insider. This is not a completely unexpected move by the telecom operator, that had launched its 3G service on the 900 MHz band in the Delhi circle in March this year. The fact that total bids during the spectrum auctions, earlier this year, were 37% higher than the reserve price was a clear indication that a move like this was in the offing. However, it needs to be pointed out that for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, Idea’s revenues from mobile data contributed 16.9% to its overall mobile revenues, as compared to 15.7% in the previous quarter and up from 10.1% in the same quarter last year. So, the argument that telecom operators have been making about decline in revenue from traditional revenue sources not compensated by increase in data revenues seems to be on a shaky ground. A look at the overall mobile Internet related numbers reported by Idea in Q4-FY15 reveals that contrary to telcos’ claim, data revenue is actually playing a big role in increasing overall revenues. Idea reported 33.4 million mobile data subscribers (18.9 million 2G+14.5 million 3G), and a blended mobile data ARPU of Rs 150, up 44.23% from Rs 104 in the same quarter last year. Idea's 3G data ARPU was at Rs 209 for the quarter. Another surprising aspect is that Idea Cellular…
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