The announcement was expected. It was only a matter of time before the telecom companies decided to restructure tariffs. There had been almost no hike in tariffs for years. The announcements by the telecom companies came a day after they threatened to stop roaming services if the Government went ahead and made national roaming free.

Opinions are varied on whether roaming must be made free. There are those who feel there should be no roaming charges as India is one country and the separation of 'circles' for telecom licences is only technical. There are others who believe it would be unfair on the part of the Government to make roaming free, as it was not mentioned in the licence agreement.

Mobile tariffs are already at ridiculously low levels and the only direction they can go is up. Almost all the companies have given up on decent ARPUs (Average Revenue Per User) based on voice tariff. They are looking more at making money thorugh data services, including 3G.

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