Rajiv Sharma, associate director, HSBC Securities, says it will be challenging for RCom to recover spectrum costs. “Our analysis suggests that post the tariff cuts, it will need to have around 200 million data subscribers using at least 400 MB to have a NPV-positive 3G business,” he explains. Current numbers are nowhere close to that, although RCom has the highest number of 3G subscribers, 7.2 million, followed by Bharti with 6.4 million. And while low tariffs will make 3G plans more attractive to subscribers in category B circles, which have been slow to adopt the technology, a bigger hurdle is the need for 3G-compatible handsets. “Data faces a challenge from the device to be used,” concurs Sashi Shankar, chief marketing officer, Idea Cellular. Certainly, handset prices have been coming down steadily, but 3G smartphones are still more expensive than 2G ones. Besides, he adds, “Operators like us need to not only get in more 3G users but also get more out of the existing base.” A recent Nokia Siemens Network report says that after the pan-industry drop in 3G tariffs last year, 3G services accounted for a third of total mobile data in H2CY12, compared with a fourth in the first half. The takeaway for RCom? If its offer not only lures in new users but tempts existing subscribers into surfing more, perhaps the party won’t be completely one-sided.