As per the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the telecom industry’s overall adjusted gross revenue (AGR) surged by 2.03 per cent sequentially, amounting to Rs 485.87 billion in the quarter ended March 20201. This growth was backed by strong customer additions as a consequence of intensified aggression from both Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to acquire Vodafone Idea Limited’s (Vi) customers through the mobile number portability (MNP) route. Access services contributed 79.46 per cent to the total telecom services AGR during the quarter.
As per data, only Bharti Airtel secured a sequential gain in AGR while both Reliance Jio and Vi recorded quarter-on-quarter declines. Airtel’s quarterly AGR grew 15.07 per cent on quarter, amounting to Rs 130.49 billion. Reliance Jio and Vi’s quarterly AGR dropped 4.42 per cent and 6.62 per cent sequentially, to Rs 164.23 billion and Rs 61.52 billion respectively.
For the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the growth in AGR has resulted in higher licence fee and spectrum usage charge (SUC). The licence fee surged by 4.44 per cent on-quarter while SUC collections witnessed a marginal sequential increase of 0.19 per cent.
