New Delhi: In the latest financial quarter, leading telecom companies Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea unveiled their earnings. While Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio demonstrated robust growth in subscriber base, Vodafone Idea faced continued challenges.
Bharti Airtel witnessed a sequential increase of approximately 6.7 million mobile subscribers in the Indian wireless segment, consolidating its position in the market. Reliance Jio, on the other hand, added around 10.9 million subscribers, reaching 482 million users. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea reported a loss of 2.6 million subscribers quarter-on-quarter.
The telecom sector's Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) exhibited growth, primarily driven by the transition from 2G to 4G and an increasing postpaid user base. Bharti Airtel maintained its industry-leading ARPU at Rs 209, while Reliance Jio reported a flat ARPU at Rs 182 per month. Vodafone Idea's ARPU stood at Rs 146, slightly up from the previous quarter.
The industry's stability was attributed to telecom reforms in September 2021 and tariff hikes in December 2019 and November 2021. Analysts anticipate another round of tariff hikes post the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024 to further bolster ARPU and return ratios.
Piyush Pandey, Research Analyst at Centrum Broking, emphasized the need for tariff hikes and the migration to 5G to drive monetization and enhance data usage. Both Airtel and Reliance Jio are expanding their 5G coverage across India, with Jio leading in subscriber migration to 5G.
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