As per the recent performance indicator report (PIR) released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the telecom industry recorded a 2.79 per cent sequential growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for the quarter ended (QE) June 2022, gaining from the spillover impact of sharp tariff hikes taken by the private carriers in November 2021.
The latest operator performance data by TRAI revealed that Bharti Airtel notched up the highest sequential AGR gain in QE June 2022 quarter, among the three private carriers, with Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) being the other two. Meanwhile, Airtel’s quarterly AGR (or revenue from licenced services), grew 7.1 per cent sequentially to Rs 171.41 billion during the quarter under consideration, while Jio and Vi witnessed a growth of 4.14 per cent and 2.04 per cent, on quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis to the tune of Rs 215 billion and Rs 73.56 billion, respectively.
Overall, the telecom industry AGR rose 2.79 per cent sequentially to Rs 605.30 billion in the quarter. A higher quarterly AGR translated into higher licence fee and spectrum usage charge (SUC) collections for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Besides, the licence fee mop-up rose 2.79 per cent sequentially to Rs 48.44 billion, while spectrum usage charge (SUC) collections rose by 3.79 per cent on Q-o-Q basis to Rs 19.99 billion.
However, the sectoral minutes of consumption for wireless services fell by 4.38 per cent sequentially to 914 during the quarter, owing to higher rates. Meanwhile, access services contributed 80.95 per cent of total telecom services AGR during the quarter. The report by TRAI also indicated that monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) from wireless services rose over 5 per cent on Q-o-Q basis to Rs 133.55. Further, country’s internet user base rose 1.45 per cent sequentially to 836.86 million. Of this, the wireless and wired internet user bases stood at 808.13 million and 28.73 million respectively, the data added.
