Telecom companies will start consolidating in the next three to five years and the trends of predatory pricing and tariff war will come to an end, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman Rahul Khullar has said.

Mr. Khullar said that predatory pricing is one of the main reasons for the worsening condition of telecom industry, and added that consolidation in the sector had become inevitable. He tried to elucidate his comments by adding that if one company reduced tariff to 10 paisa, it competitor hacked it to 5 paisa, while some other competitor reduced it to just 1 paisa.

He explained that telecom companies would see decline in margins over the next two to three years, which would put them under pressure and force them to opt for consolidation.

Speaking on the topic, he added, "As we start seeing consolidation, you will come to a stage when all these trends of predatory pricing will stop."

He added that slashing price war was remained at apex over the past few years, but telecom companies have now started alluring consumers with freebies, such as more talk time for the same price.

Mr. Khullar also said that the industry would be benefited from 3G and from the decline in the price of 3G devices as these devices would increase usage of data services.