According to a report by ICICI Securities, the telecom industry’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) grew 1.9 per cent sequentially and 9.7 per cent on-year to Rs 582 billion, as the premiumisation trend helped offset the drag due to the absence of any major tariff hikes.
The report noted that Bharti Airtel has through the year-ended March 31, 2024 narrowed its revenue market share (RMS) gap with Reliance Jio while Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) continued to cede ground.
The report added that Airtel has been continuously narrowing its market share gap with Jio. In addition, Airtel’s revenue market share rose to 37.9 per cent, up 35 basis points (bps) sequentially and 139 bps on year, in Q4 FY24. This compared with Jio’s AGR of 42.1 per cent in Q4 FY24, up 3 bps and 49 bps on year.
It added that the AGR (including national long distance) of Airtel stood at about Rs 231 billion for the three-month period while that of Jio was Rs 257 billion.
The report further added that Vi saw its AGR slip 40 bps sequentially to Rs 94 billion, leading to shrinking of its revenue market share to 15.4 per cent. Vi lost AGR across all its circle categories – leadership, established and other circles. However, the telco gained market share in the three metros, which may have been helped by capacity augmentation and a clogged network of the bigger rivals.
As per the circle-wise analysis by ICICI Securities, Airtel grew faster in metros with a sequential growth rate of 3.8 per cent, followed by category B circles, which grew 2.5 per cent, C category saw a 2.3 per cent rise and A category circles, which rose 1.8 per cent. Further, in FY24, Airtel lost market share only in one circle-Himachal Pradesh, which shows the depth of its market share win, while on-quarter, it lost market share in seven circles.
Furthermore, Jio, on its part, witnessed a muted growth of 0.6 per cent in metros while category A circles grew at 1.6 per cent. The company, though, witnessed 2.3 per cent growth in category B circles followed by 1.9 per cent in category C. Meanwhile, in FY24, Jio lost AGR market share in 11 circles.
