Indian telecom sector up by 1.75% in April-June quarter

The overall AGR for the telecom sector increased by 1.75% sequentially to INR 65,624 crore in the June quarter

December 6, 2023

The higher quarterly AGR resulted in increased license fee and spectrum usage charge (SUC) collections

License fee collections rose by 1.69% sequentially to INR 5,246 crore

Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio witnessed a rapid adoption of 5G services, fueled further by events

During the quarter, overall sectoral minutes of consumption increased

In the April-June quarter of this year, the telecommunications sector experienced a 1.75% sequential growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR). During this period, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio witnessed a rapid adoption of 5G services, fueled further by events like the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The overall AGR for the telecom sector increased by 1.75% sequentially to INR 65,624 crore in the June quarter

According to the latest data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Bharti Airtel achieved the highest sequential AGR gain in the first quarter of 2023-24. Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) also reported a quarter-on-quarter increase in AGR.

Bharti Airtel’s quarterly AGR, or revenue from licensed services, rose by 4.08% sequentially to INR 19,256 crore in the April-June period. Jio and Vi saw increases of 2.05% and 0.8% to INR 23,457.11 crore and INR 7267.76 crore, respectively, as per TRAI data..

The higher quarterly AGR resulted in increased license fee and spectrum usage charge (SUC) collections for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). License fee collections rose by 1.69% sequentially to INR 5,246 crore, and SUC collections increased by 8.32% quarter-on-quarter to INR 818 crore, as per data collected by the regulator. Analysts noted that the sharper sequential growth in SUC collections was influenced by Vi clearing some past dues.

Telecom companies annually pay 8% of AGR as license fees, while the overall SUC payout is well below 1% of AGR since airwaves acquired from the last 5G auction onwards do not attract any SUC.

During the quarter, overall sectoral minutes of consumption increased, with the all-India average minutes of usage per subscriber per month from wireless services rising by 1.45% sequentially to 960.

Access services contributed 80.52% of the total AGR for telecom services in the first quarter of the fiscal year. The Trai report also revealed that the monthly average revenue per user from wireless services in the telecom industry increased by 2.33% quarter-on-quarter to INR 145.64 crore.

Regulatory data showed that the country’s internet user base expanded by 1.65% sequentially to 895.83 million in the April-June quarter. Among these, the broadband internet base comprised 861.47 million users, while the remaining 34.36 million constituted the narrowband internet user base.

Source: Economic Times

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