2026 has just started and already inflation is hitting us badly. But this is not about companies becoming greedy—it's about a system where choices have finished.
2026 has just started and already inflation is hitting us badly. Electronics getting expensive is still understandable, but now telecom companies are also coming after our pockets. And the thing is, these plans are not getting costly because companies have become greedy. Actually, it's happening because when any service becomes a habit, then the price is not decided by the market but by your helplessness.
This is not a story of telecom hacks or tricks. This is the story of a system where choices have finished. Free internet created such a dependency that now there is no exit option.
The 2016 Story
To understand why internet is getting expensive, we need to remember 2016. Not for nostalgia, but to understand a mistake. At that time, the telecom market was definitely messy. Data was expensive, networks were not perfect, but one thing was there—choice. If one operator irritated you, you could switch because there were 10-12 players in the market.
Then in 2016, Jio entered. And this was not a normal competitor. Jio was a player who had money to buy time. Free data and free calls were not charity. It was a strategy, and this strategy works only when you can afford to bear losses for years. At that time, nobody asked whether this is sustainable or not. People just thought—it's free, so let's grab it.
How Free Data Trapped Us
Free data was not charity. It was patience. The idea was simple—take out so much time that this becomes people's habit. And when internet becomes a necessity, the next phase becomes inevitable.
Jio had money to bear losses for years. So other players had only two options left—either distribute free data like them, or leave the market. Slowly, that's what happened. Airtel went nearly bankrupt. Tata Docomo exited. Reliance Communications became history. Telenor merged with someone else. Within 2-3 years, only three players remained in the market—Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.
The ARPU Game
Now the market is full. Everyone in India who needed a SIM has taken it. Villages or cities, almost every house has a phone now. People have not one but two SIMs. So where will you bring new people from?
Now there's only one way to grow—extract more money from existing users. This is what the industry calls ARPU—Average Revenue Per User. If you're earning ₹150 from one customer per month, and new customers are not coming, then you have to take that same customer to ₹200, then ₹250, then ₹300.
- 2019: 40% hike after free data era ended
- 2021: Another 20% increase
- 2024: Jio raised rates by 12-25%, Airtel and VI followed with 10-20% hikes
The Dark Patterns
Along with expensive rates, companies are also using dark patterns. Generally, when you recharge, it's for 28 days, not 30 days. So if you recharge monthly, you're not paying for 12 months but 13 months.
Also, if you go to Jio's website, you have to manually search for 30-day plans. They hide them. You will find 2-3 plans only, mostly data packs. This is the same logic apps use—hide the important thing and keep what you want to sell in front.
Even TRAI has said that 30-day plans should be there, but who is following rules? Rules are just written on paper.
Some time back, Jio removed 1GB plans completely. They said directly—take 1.5GB minimum. Airtel and VI still give 1GB plans, but minimum prices have slowly increased. In Jio, you don't get plans below ₹299 now.
Why Companies Can Do This
The real question is not what these people are doing. The real question is—how are they doing all this without any fear?
The problem is these companies know you cannot go anywhere. Yes, there are rules and guidelines, but when there's no loss in breaking rules, then rules remain only on paper. When users can do nothing, they will only get frustrated.
The Old Debt Burden
Telecom is not a normal business. These companies use government spectrum and in return, they have to pay 12-15% to the government. Then comes AGR—Adjusted Gross Revenue. This doesn't mean only income from calls and data. It includes advertisement, interest, asset sales—everything. Wherever the company earns from, government wants its share.
Now the timing matters. Airtel and VI were in the market since before 2016. They had already spent thousands of crores on 2G, 3G, old spectrum, license fees. These people were already carrying past bills when Jio came in 2016 with free data and aggressive expansion.
So old players got squeezed between paying government dues and competing with Jio. Due to this AGR issue, VI and Airtel's combined dues crossed ₹87,000 crores. Think about it—the money that should have gone into improving networks and towers is going into just surviving.
Meanwhile, Jio had to pay only around ₹100 crores under AGR, which is nothing compared to others. That's why Jio could innovate, bring new bundles, and bear losses.
When VI almost collapsed, the government intervened and took 49% stake. Because if VI left, only two players would remain in the market. Actually, even with three players, what's the difference? But still, three is better than two.
BSNL: The Forgotten Player
In this whole story, there's one name we took lightly for years—BSNL. It was easy to take them lightly because when they should have run, they didn't run. But today, the situation is different.
First, BSNL developed its entire 4G network within India, with TCS and government. Reducing foreign dependence on telecom infrastructure is no small thing. Only a few countries in the world have done this.
BSNL has installed more than 97,000 4G sites, out of which 93,000+ are operational. And this whole network is ready for 5G upgrade. That's why even today, defence, police, railways, and many government departments use only BSNL. When network becomes part of national system, government doesn't take that risk.
After COVID, it became clear that internet is a necessity like electricity and water. At least one option of basic needs should be in government control.
But can BSNL become strong enough to be a third option? This is where hype and reality differ. Third option will happen when people switch to them, and people will switch only when they improve. And BSNL's problem was never intention. The problem was always execution. Rollout happens too late, and network quality is bad.
These things won't fix themselves. So getting too excited about BSNL is also wrong, and ignoring them is also wrong. Because if they work, private telecom companies will definitely think before increasing prices. But if they fail, the market will have no pressure point at all.
The Conclusion
The conclusion of this story is not that telecom companies are wrong. And it's not that increasing prices is a scam. The conclusion is just this—free data was never free. Free internet was a deal—habit in exchange for control.
When Jio's IPO comes and more money enters this industry, maybe we'll see more changes. But for now, the exit option that we lost in 2016 is not coming back anytime soon.