RCom Q3 profit declines 15pc to Rs 171 crore

Telecom operator Reliance Communications (RCom) today reported 15 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 171 crore for the October- December quarter, mainly on account of 2G licence expiry in five circles, including Bihar and West Bengal.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 201 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
Total income of RCom also declined by 2.9 per cent to Rs 5,277 crore during the reported quarter compared with Rs 5,435 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.
RCom said that decline in business has been "on account of 2G licence expiry in 5 circles".

"We have successfully migrated the profitable customers to 3G in these 5 circles and achieved significant improvement in network coverage and quality through ICR arrangements with Vodafone and Aircel," RCom said.
RCom in spectrum auction last year failed to win back 900 Mhz spectrum it used for 2G mobile services in West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and the North-East service areas, and its right to use this spectrum ended on December 12.

RCom lost some 4.7 lakh customers in July-September period in Bihar this fiscal.
RCom's revenue per minute and average revenue per user remained flat at 45.2 paise and Rs 142, respectively compared with the corresponding period of 2014-15.

The company's total data customer base grew by 23 per cent to 3.8 crore from 3.14 crore during the period under review.
The 3G customers base of the company also increased to 2.3 crore from 1.6 crore during the period.
RCom said that during the quarter it signed a strategic deal with Reliance Jio Infocomm for change in spectrum allotment in 800 MHz band across nine circles and sharing of spectrum in 800 MHz band across 17 circles.
"As part of the enhanced strategic collaboration, both companies also intend to enter into reciprocal intra-circle roaming (ICR) arrangements. Rcom's customers will benefit from access to Reliance Jio's nationwide 4G LTE network under the reciprocal sharing and ICR agreements," the statement said.

The company said that it has paid Rs 5,383.84 crore as liberalisation fee to the Department of Telecom in relation to spectrum in the 800/850 MHz band held by it in 16 telecom circles.
During the quarter, RCom entered into a 90-day exclusivity period with Maxis Communications Berhad (MCB) and Sindya Securities and Investments Private Limited, the shareholders of Aircel Limited, to consider the potential combination of the wireless business of RCom and Aircel.
RCom also signed a non-binding term sheet with Tillman Global Holdings, LLC and TPG Asia, for proposed sale of its mobile towers. The deal was to close on January 15 but it has been extended for a period of 15 days till month end.

RCom shares today closed 0.68 per cent up at Rs 66.65 on the BSE.