India’s leading telecom operators Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vi have lost subscribers in this quarter while recording a robust increase in their average revenue per user (ARPU) because of recent tariff hikes according to a report by Centrum.
The ARPU for private telecom players was positively impacted due to tariff hikes implemented in July 2024.
Bharti Airtel continues to maintain its lead with an ARPU of ₹233 per month for the quarter, up from ₹211 per month in the first quarter of FY25
Reliance Jio reported an ARPU of ₹195 per month compared to ₹182 per month in Q1FY25 whereas VIL reported an ARPU of ₹156 per month, up from ₹146 per month in Q1FY25.
The report indicates that the tariff increases will aid telecom operators in achieving higher Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), and the full impact of these tariff increases will become evident within a few quarters.
Conversely, the operator’s subscriber base declined due to SIM consolidation resulting from tariff increases implemented in July 2024.
Bharti Airtel lost around 2.9 million mobile subscribers in the quarter to reach 352 million. Reliance Jio lost around 10.9 million subscribers in the quarter to reach 479 million subscribers whereas Vi lost 5.1 million subscribers in this quarter mainly in the 2G segment to reach 205 million subscribers.
This quarter also saw increased porting to the government-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), from private operators as tariffs were not raised by the telco.
The report says SIM consolidation is expected to be largely over by the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal.
It adds that besides tariff hikes, ARPU for the sector will continue to grow also led by subscribers moving from 2G to 4G and growth in post-paid subscribers. Average voice and data use is expected to increase with this migration.
Both Airtel and Reliance Jio are adding more cities to their 5G coverage with presence across most districts of India. About 148 million Jio subscribers have migrated to 5G and 105 million Airtel subscribers moved to 5G. With more 5G subscribers, data usage is expected to increase thereby increasing revenue and ARPU for telecom operators.
The report says with these changes and reforms of September 2021, the telecom sector is moving towards some sort of stability. Tariff hikes in December 2019, November 2021 and July 2024 have led to a steady rise in operator’s ARPU.
About the revival of Vi, the report says the government now has a 24% equity stake in the telco. The company is in discussion with banks to raise debt capital of ₹250 billion for its capex plans of ₹500-550 billion over the next 3 years to improve its network capacity.
The company has also announced its plan to launch its 5G services in another 6 months. However, the net debt of the company still stands at ₹2 trillion.