New Delhi: Responding to concerns over recent increases in mobile services tariffs, the government emphasised that market dynamics of supply and demand govern the current mobile services sector, which includes three private and one public sector players.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reiterated that telecom service rates are determined by market forces, operating within a regulatory framework set by the independent regulator. “The government does not intervene in the free market decisions as the functionality is under the domain of TRAI and tariffs are under forbearance,” said the regulator.

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The TRAI noted that telecom service providers (TSPs) have raised prices after a span of more than two years. “In the last two years, some of the TSPs have invested heavily in rolling out the 5G services across the country. This has resulted in a significant increase in median mobile speed to the level of 100 Mbps and a jump in India’s international rank from 111, in October 2022, to 15 today,” the TRAI explained.

In balancing subscriber interests and promoting orderly growth in the telecommunications sector, which includes investments in cutting-edge technologies like 5G, 6G, and IoT/M2M for Industry 4.0, the TRAI underscored the sector's financial sustainability.

Highlighting the sector's troubled history a decade ago marked by controversies and transparency issues, the TRAI emphasised that recent changes aim to foster growth and stability in mobile services. “During the last 10 years, due to progressive policies of the government, the rates of telecommunication services be it voice or data, have fallen exponentially,” said the telecom regulatory body.

Agencies