NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s second-largest wireless carrier, will increase prices of its mobile plans by at least 20% later this week, signalling that the cut-throat price war in the sector may be phasing out.

       The operator, helmed by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, has priced its cheapest, entry-level mobile plan at 99 rupees (US$1.3 or RM5.57), up from 79 rupees (RM4.44) earlier or 25% higher, according to a statement yesterday.

       Bharti has also raised the tariffs of 11 other mobile plans and three data packages by 20%. All price hikes will be effective from Nov 26.

       “Bharti Airtel has always maintained that the mobile average revenue per user (Arpu) needs to be at 200 rupees (RM11.25) and ultimately at 300 rupees (RM16.88),” for a reasonable return on capital that allows for a financially healthy business model, it said in a statement.

       “Therefore, as a first step, we are taking the lead in rebalancing our tariffs.”

       It reported mobile Arpu in India of 153 rupees (RM8.61) in the latest quarterly earnings this month.

       Bharti’s shares rose as much as 5.8%, touching an intraday record of 756 rupees (RM42.54) during trading in Mumbai yesterday.

       The move paves way for rivals, especially the unprofitable smaller rival Vodafone Idea Ltd, to follow suit as India’s battered wireless operators take further steps to repair their balance sheets. — Bloomberg