Dedicated, faster internet plans for concerts, influencers in the offing?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi/Mumbai: Telecom service providers could consider offering specialized tariff plans with high upload speeds for influencers, live streamers and Instagrammers, as users seek reliable data connectivity when they attend high-profile events like the concerts of Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran, industry executives and analysts said.

While India has one of the cheapest data tariffs in the world and some 4G and 5G tariff plans come bundled with unlimited data usage, 5G monetization opportunities have so far been elusive for telecom operators. 5G monetization will become increasingly critical to extract return on capital employed in 2025 and beyond, which is why telcos would look at such specialized offers.

“With the increasing number of international events, operators must address the challenge of data usage spiking at high-traffic events. Around 40% of data traffic at concerts is uplink-centric, with users live-streaming events.

To maintain a seamless experience, operators are focusing on capacity addition, network densification, and possibly introducing differentiated connectivity models, like tailored network slices for premium users," Jasmeet Singh Sethi, head of Ericsson ConsumerLab, told Mint. Influencers are also willing to pay more for data plans that can guarantee them dedicated high speed for uploading content at events or concerts. Ericsson data, collected from surveying over 3,500 users in India across tier 1 to tier 3 markets and released last month, suggests that consumers are ready to pay 5-15% of ticket prices for high-speed data to seek ‘elevated performance’ at event venues.