As per the ministry of telecommunications, telecom sector’s gross revenue fell about Rs 410 billion in three years on account of a dip in mobile service rates.
Gross revenue of the telecom sector in 2016-17 was Rs 2.65 trillion, which dipped to Rs 2.46 trillion in 2017-18 and then to Rs 2.24 trillion in 2018-19.
As per the ministry, fierce competition in the telecom sector over the recent years has led telecom service providers (TSPs) to revise their tariff downwards. This has resulted in decline of gross revenue (GR) and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of all TSPs for last three financial years.
AGR, on which the government earns revenue, also declined by around Rs 460 billion. According to the data by the ministry, AGR declined from Rs 1.85 trillion in 2016-17 to Rs 1.5 trillion in 2018-19 and further to Rs 1.39 trillion in 2018-19.
Accordingly, licence fee, which is 8 per cent of AGR, and spectrum usage charges, which are 3 to 5 per cent of AGR have also decreased. Additionally, despite an increase in the subscriber base, revenue earned from mobile services has declined in the last three years.
