Telcos revenue falls 2.64% to Rs 69,695 cr; AGR up 16% in Dec qtr: Trai

Telecom service providers' gross revenue declined by 2.64 per cent to Rs 69,695 crore in December 2021 quarter, according to the latest data published by the telecom regulator Trai.

The gross revenue of the telecom service providers (TSPs) was Rs 71,588 crore in the same period a year ago, the quarterly performance report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Thursday showed.

TSPs' adjusted gross revenue, on which the government charges various levies, increased by 15.81 per cent to Rs 55,151 crore in the December 2021 quarter from Rs 47,623 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

The government collection in the form of licence fees surged by 19.21 per cent to Rs 4,541 crore from Rs 3,809 crore a year ago.

The spectrum usage charges (SUC) collection of the government increased by 14.47 per cent to Rs 1,760 crore in the December 2022 quarter from Rs 1,538 crore in the year-ago period.

Reliance Jio registered the highest AGR of Rs 19,063.75 crore in the December 2022 quarter. It was followed by Bharti Airtel with Rs 4,484.48 crore, Vodafone Idea Rs 6,541.83 crore, BSNL Rs 1,984.94 crore, Tata Teleservices Rs 530.21 crore, MTNL Rs 254.78 crore, Reliance Communications Rs 61.69 crore and Quadrant Rs 13.22 crore.

The total number of telephone subscribers in India decreased by 0.9 per cent to 117.84 crore at the end of December 2021 over the previous quarter.

The total subscriber base included 115.46 crore wireless and 2.37 crore wireline customers.

The total internet subscriber base in the country stood at 82.93 crore and broadband subscribers at 79.2 crore at the end of the December 2021 quarter, according to the report.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 5.55 per cent, to Rs 114.16 in December 2021 from Rs 108.16 in September 2021. It rose by 12.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

"Prepaid ARPU per month increased from Rs 102.16 in the quarter ended (QE) September 2021 to Rs 107.98 in QE December 2021, however, Postpaid ARPU per month decreased from Rs 212.28 in QE September 2021 to Rs 210.33 in QE December 2021," the report said.