Reliance Jio’s Revenue Market Share Grows At Its Slowest Pace
...and Airtel’s revenue market share in April-June rose for the first time in five quarters.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.’s market share by revenue grew at its slowest pace since it started charging users even as the telecom services provider launched by Asia’s richest man added subscribers to become India’s largest operator.
Reliance Jio’s revenue market share rose 70 basis points over the preceding three months to 31.7 percent in the April-June period, according to data compiled by BloombergQuint.
The revenue market share is calculated based on the adjusted gross revenue, which factors in interconnection usage charges and other deductions, provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and national long-distance revenue.
One of the reasons why Reliance Jio's revenue share growth slowed could be the decline in its Average Revenue Per User over the last few quarters. The key operating metric fell as the number of low-cost JioPhone users rose, subscribers opted for longer-term value packs and increase in digital recharges led to more cashbacks.
Reliance Jio, which aims to acquire 50 percent revenue market share, disrupted the world’s second-largest telecom market first by offering free services and then through cheaper schemes to woo users. The launch of its 4G-enabled feature phone—the JioPhone—further strengthened its foothold.
While the unabated tariff war hurt profitability of incumbent operators, forcing them to either shut shop or merge, it even led to slower growth for Reliance Jio. The only way to stem that is higher tariffs, but now that seems unlikely.
Revenue market share of Sunil Mittal-owned Bharti Airtel Ltd. rose for the first time in five quarters as fewer customers quit the network, number of data subscribers rose and ARPU increased.
Kumar Mangalam Birla and Vodafone Group Plc.-controlled Vodafone Idea Ltd.’s revenue market share fell to its lowest ever in the June quarter as its subscribers switched to other networks and opted for lower rental plans. The operator’s market share by revenue dropped 350 basis points sequentially to 28 percent.
Overall, the telecom sector’s adjusted gross revenue rose in the April-June period after remaining muted in the previous couple of quarters. That was largely led by 11 percent growth in Bharti Airtel’s adjusted gross revenue during the period.