The 50-paise-a-minute scheme could be the catalyst for the telecom industry to head for consolidation
With telecom companies coming out with new calling plans every other day, Vodafone and Reliance’s 50-paise-a-minute scheme for both local and STD calls might have been shrugged off by many as just another scheme. But the move is likely to prove to be a game changer for the telecom industry. Especially now that Airtel and Tata Indicom also seem to have jumped into the pricing game.
Saurine Doshi, telecom business head and managing director of consulting firm A.T. Kearney, feels that the new call costs will be profitable to only the top three players — Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance — in the short run. He says, “This is, perhaps, the first sign that the larger players are aiming to consolidate the market.”
(This story appears in the 20 November, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)