Stocks in several large Indian operators rose yesterday following the news that market-leader Bharti Airtel had raised a number of call tariffs – prompting speculation that India’s fierce pricing war may have finally bottomed out. According to India’s Business Standard, Bharti has increased on-net prepaid tariffs in six regional circles: Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. On one plan – known as ‘Advantage’ – rates have been hiked from INR0.50 per minute to INR0.60 per minute; on the ‘Freedom’ plan, the tariff has been revised from INR0.01 per second to INR0.012 paisa per second. The report notes that another rival operator Tata Docomo raised tariffs in two circles two months ago. It is expected that others will follow suit in the coming weeks. “We believe these rises are sustainable and expect Bharti to replicate the trend across all product categories and circles over the next few months,” Rajiv Sharma, a telecoms analyst at HSBC, told the Financial Times. “Moreover, we expect the competition to follow. It appears that the process has already been initiated,”

According to the Financial Times, shares in Indian telecom groups rose as much as 16 percent on Monday. Bharti rose 5.37 percent, while second-placed Reliance Communications rose 14.9 percent. India’s price war has been a key reason for depressed telco stocks in recent years. The report notes that Indian subscriber numbers have risen 46 percent since 2009, but revenues have risen by only 13 percent over the same period. “The slowdown in subscriber additions and decline in share of subscriber net additions for new entrants highlight that the game has shifted to enhancing wallet share from clocking subscriber numbers,” said HSBC’s Sharma.