Reliance Jio's potential tariff hike looms on the horizon, axing promotions and bonuses – a follow-up to its recent cuts in plan validity.

According to an Open Signal blog, swelling 4G traffic has congestion concerns, while higher Jio pricing was linked to better speeds in independent speed tests.

Is another price surge on the cards for Jio?

Bucking the prediction, Crisil identifies 40% of mobile data subscribers now; this figure is poised to escalate to 80% by 2022, heavily by Jio’s involvement. Last year's surge in consumption, from 8,050 TBs to 3.9 million TBs, exemplifies this.

In the blog's analysis, initial freebie-led Jio speeds were the slowest. Concurrently with increased prices, user activity dropped—and speeds picked up.

The post reveals Jio's entry ignited fierce price competition, prompting across-the-board reduced LTE costs. Now, 3.9 million out of 4.2 million users enjoy 4G, much to Jio's merit.

Yet,Speculation is rife that Jio is set to jack up prices next year, equalizing with industry heavyweights, all while solidifying consumer loyalty accumulated through steady discounts.

The veterans are gaining momentum

While Jio’s price boost is forecast, it could tilt parity with the big guns like Airtel, Vodafone, and others. The cessation of bonus offers has been a downturn in active users for Jio, potentially leading to additional customer流失.

This shift could once more place the telecom market on competitive terms echoing 2016, as the established players vie to attract consumers seeing value in rival services.