PRESS: Analysts say mobile operators may revise tariffs soon

MOSCOW, Oct 24 (PRIME) -- Returning limitless tariffs could shortly undermine financial results of Russian mobile operators, which along with the costly data retention law, investment in 5G, and a looming rise in value-added tax (VAT) could erase such tariffs in 2019 or result in extra restrictions limits and pay services, business daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday.

Agency Content Review said in a report that local mobile operators will start seriously revising limitless tariffs in January–June 2019. “If operators do not take them away from the market, additional restrictions will be introduced for video quality in streaming services or speed will be reduced for some options which are the most popular among subscribers, for example, music,” Content Review Director Sergei Polovnikov said.

Limitless tariffs will worsen financial results of operators in two or three quarters since their launch in August. This is not the first wave of such tariffs, and they improved operators’ results earlier only for a short period of time, the agency said.

TMT Consulting General Director Konstantin Ankilov agreed that limitless tariffs will influence operators’ results negatively already in 2018, including revenue and average revenue per user (ARPU). “It will happen because subscribers will move to limitless tariffs from more expensive ones,” he said.

The Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA) does not think that limitless tariffs will lead to such negative consequences as it was during the previous sharpening of competition between operators. A more cautious price policy could support ARPU, the agency said.

“Earlier, limitless tariffs used to be a tool of winning over subscribers, now it’s more likely to draw their attention,” Alexander Gushchin, a senior analyst at ACRA, told the daily.

Operators disagreed that limitless tariffs will result in problems with traffic growth. T2 RTK Holding, working as Tele2, said that only several percent of the subscriber base use such tariffs, and half of them consume no more than 15 GB of traffic per month.

VimpelCom, working as Beeline, said that the operator views limitless tariffs as a promotion campaign, and if they appear on the market, all operators offer them, and if they evaporate, all operators are unanimous.

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