Gross revenue of telecom companies drops 1.36% in Q2 y-o-y, AGR up by 17%: TRAI

• Telecom service providers (TSPs) had registered gross revenue of Rs 68,228 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year
• The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) component of telecom companies, on which the government levies charges, went up by 17.07 percent in Q2 to Rs 53,510 crore

New Delhi: The gross revenue of telecom companies dropped by 1.36 percent year-on-year in Q2 (July-September) of financial year 2021-22, a new report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said on Monday. Telecom service providers (TSPs) had registered gross revenue of Rs 68,228 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year, said TRAI in the report. Access service providers like Bharti Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea, who provide services to end-consumers, accounted for 78 percent of gross revenue.

Telecom companies' AGR component increased by 17.07%

The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) component of telecom companies, on which the government levies charges, went up by 17.07 percent in Q2 to Rs 53,510 crore, up from Rs 45,707 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of FY20. Bharti Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea accounted for 79 percent of AGR, according to the report.

Jio reported highest AGR, Reliance Communications lowest

Reliance Jio reported highest AGR of Rs 18,467.47 crore during Q2, followed by Bharti Airtel at Rs 14,730.85 crore, Vodafone Idea at Rs 6,337.58 crore, BSNL at Rs 1,934.73 crore, Tata Teleservices at Rs 554.33 crore, MTNL at Rs 331.56 crore and Reliance Communications at Rs 53.4 crore.

The government's revenue from telecom services by way of licence fees and spectrum usage charges (SUC) increased by 16.8 percent and 19.99 percent, respectively, on a year-on-year basis. The Centre collected revenue in the form of licence fee to the tune of Rs 4,271 crore and SUC of Rs 1,741 crore during the July-September quarter of the current financial year. The figures were at Rs 3,656 crore and Rs 1,451 crore, respectively, in the corresponding quarter of FY20.

India's telephone subscribers decline 1.12% q-o-q

The number of telephone subscribers in India decreased from 1,202.57 million at the end of Jun 2021 to 1,189.15 million at the end of Sep 2021, registering a decline rate of 1.12 percent over the previous quarter. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rate of 1.75 percent over the same quarter of the last year. The overall Tele-density in India decreased from 88.07 percent in June 2021 to 86.89 percent in September 2021, said TRAI in the report.

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