Reliance Jio's entry will slow Airtel's data growth significantly

Analysts say, Airtel's data realisation was expected to fall 10% q-o-q

Leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel is likely to witness a slow data growth because of the entry of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio in the sector.

Analysts said Airtel’s data realisation was expected to fall 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter. The data usage growth is likely to come under more pressure in October-December quarter because of the full impact of Reliance Jio. 

“We see some continued softening of data growth because of the new competitor. We will need to bundle 4G services in a much better way,” said Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel, during an investor call on Wednesday. 

Jio launched its commercial services on September 5. It is offering the whole bouquet of services free of cost till December 31. This has hit incumbent operators. According to a Deutsche Bank report, Airtel’s India business grew at 10.2 per cent and the mobile division performance was marginally below estimates because of a sharper fall in voice and data pricing.

“Data usage growth at 55 per cent year-on-year was stable, although pricing fell 20 per cent y-o-y. 3G subscriber penetration has improved quarter on quarter after stagnating for six months at 23 per cent,” the report said.