Currently, petrol and diesel prices are skyrocketing across the country. Fuel prices have been rising continuously for the past few days, making it highly likely that this inflation will directly impact mobile users. The rising fuel prices have significantly increased the operating costs of telecom companies. Therefore, there are indications that this burden will soon be passed on to customers. Consequently, mobile calling and data plans are likely to become more expensive in the coming months.

While there's no direct connection between petrol and diesel prices and mobile recharges for ordinary consumers, they have had a significant impact on telecom companies' internal calculations. Currently, petrol prices have surpassed ₹107 per liter in many cities. These increased prices have increased the cost of maintaining mobile networks.

40% of tower expenses are on fuel.
Huge amount of electricity and diesel is used to keep thousands of mobile towers spread across the country operational 24 hours. According to a report, up to 40% of the total maintenance cost of any mobile tower is spent on fuel and electricity alone. In rural and remote areas where there is shortage of electricity, these towers run completely on diesel generators. Due to rising diesel prices, this expenditure of companies has increased by hundreds of crores of rupees.

5G Network and Hardware Crisis
Meanwhile, 5G networks are currently expanding rapidly in the country. However, 5G towers require significantly more power to operate than older 4G networks. This has already increased companies' electricity consumption costs. Furthermore, disruptions to the global supply chain have also increased the cost of network equipment, batteries, and other technical hardware.

When will recharge rates become more expensive?
Telecom companies have been preparing to increase tariff plans for some time. However, given rising fuel prices and increasing technical costs, it's expected that companies will soon decide to increase recharge rates. Mobile phones have become a priority for every citizen. Therefore, this price increase will be a significant financial blow to the average person's household budget.

PC: TV9