Telcos record lower revenue per user

Even as India adds over nine million telecom subscribers every month, data released today by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) show that the average revenue per user (ARPU) of telecom firms has come down in the first two quarters of 2008, though the quality of their service has improved. Due to the poor performance of the state-owned telecom firms, the gross revenue of the sector has declined 1.3 per cent during the period.

Intense competition among telecom operators led to further decline in their ARPUs. According to the latest quarterly data issued by Trai, monthly ARPU for GSM operators declined 9.8 per cent from Rs 264 in March 2008 to Rs 239 in June 2008. ARPU for CDMA operators dropped 12.6 per cent from Rs 159 to Rs 139 during the period.

Post-paid customers accounted for a lesser erosion in ARPU than pre-paid customers. ARPU for post-paid service declined 5.9 per cent from Rs 638 in March 2008 to Rs 600 in June 2008, while ARPU for pre-paid service declined 8.9 per cent from Rs 224 to Rs 204.

Despite the decline, the quality of service across the country has improved. The number of operators who defaulted on the basic benchmark set by Trai declined in both fixed-line and wireless segments. For instance, the number of defaulting fixed-line operators on the call completion rate (benchmarked at more than 55 per cent) in a local area has come down from seven out of 78 operators in the first quarter to four in the second quarter. Also, the number of operators defaulting on the eight-hour benchmark repair time has declined to 21 from 25.

The quality of service by wireless operators has also improved. Only two operators of the 93 GSM and 44 CDMA operators received more than the allowed 0.1 per cent complaints per 100 bills as compared with six in the previous quarter. During the two quarters, the quality of customer assistance also showed an improvement as customers of about 65 per cent operators received help within 90 seconds of making the call. This rate was 61 per cent earlier.
 

THE FACT SHEET
	Apr- Jun, ‘08	Jan-Mar, ‘08
Total AGR	Rs 35311 Cr	Rs 35770 Cr
Total gross revenue	Rs 26,990 Cr	Rs 27845 Cr
Public sector AGR	Rs 8467 Cr	Rs 10417 Cr
Private sector AGR	Rs 18524 Cr	Rs 17427 Cr
Public sector revenue share	31.37%	37.41%
Private sector revenue share	68.63%	62.59%
GSM ARPU	Rs 239	Rs 264
CDMA ARPU	Rs 139	Rs 159
Prepaid ARPU	Rs 204	Rs 224
Postpaid ARPU	Rs 600	Rs 638
AGR - Adjusted Gross Revenue ARPU- Average Revenue Per User

Driven by the poor performance of the public sector, the total gross revenue in the Indian telecom space declined to Rs 35,311 crore during the quarter ended June 2008 as against Rs 35,770 crore in the previous quarter. The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for the quarter decreased 3.17 per cent to Rs 26,990 crore. It was Rs 27,845 crore in the previous quarter.

With a fall of over 18.7 per cent in their AGR, the share of public enterprises like BSNL and MTNL in the total AGR declined to 31.37 per cent, from 37.41 per cent in the previous quarter. The AGR of these enterprises declined to Rs 8,467 crore from Rs 10,417 crore in the previous quarter.

The private sector, however, continued its robust growth. It contributed nearly 69 per cent to the total revenue share. Private telecom companies garnered AGR of Rs 18,524 crore during the quarter, up from Rs 17,427 crore in the previous quarter, while the gross revenue stood at Rs 25,555 crore against Rs 23,537 crore in the previous quarter.