The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) earned by India’s telecom players every month rose at a slower pace of 7.5 per cent in FY24, compared to nearly 20 per cent in FY23, latest government data shows.
The Yearly Telecom Sector Performance Indicators report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday shows overall monthly ARPU for wireless services rose to Rs 149 in FY24, up from Rs 138.7 in FY23. The preceding year, it had risen 19.9 per cent from Rs 115.17.
The slow pace of ARPU growth precipitated the latest industry-wide tariff hikes, which took effect from July 3-4, telco officials said.
Meanwhile, ARPU for both postpaid and prepaid services rose in FY24. Monthly prepaid ARPUs rose 8 per cent during the year to Rs 146.37, up from Rs 135.47 in FY23. Prepaid ARPU is a key focus area for telcos, considering 92.47 per cent of all subscribers fell in that category in FY24, up from 92.06 per cent in the previous year.
“Monthly prepaid services ARPU crossed the Rs 150 mark for the first time in Q4 (January-April) of FY24. This is important for the industry to sustain, but it is a long way off from the Rs 300 ARPU that is targeted,” an official with a private sector telco said. On a quarterly basis, monthly prepaid ARPUs have consistently risen for more than six quarters, but the pace has been slow.
Monthly postpaid ARPUs rose 4.4 per cent to Rs 184.63 in FY24, up from Rs 176.7 in FY23. This is an equal reversal of the decline seen in the previous 12 months, when it had fallen from Rs 185.15 in FY22. The numbers show postpaid ARPUs are yet to reach FY22 levels. Telecom operators consider the postpaid segment premium and are increasingly focused on converting subscribers into postpaid users.
Average Minutes of Usage (MOUs) per subscriber per month increased 4.7 per cent to 963 in FY24, up from 919 and 879 in the previous two years.
AGR collections up
Wednesday’s data showed the telecom sector witnessed an 8.24 per cent growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), reaching Rs 2.7 trillion in FY24, up from Rs 2.49 trillion in FY23. AGR is the basis on which the Department of Telecom (DoT) calculates levies payable by operators.
The collections from spectrum usage charge (SUC) saw a steep decline of 32.3 per cent, falling to Rs 3,369 crore from Rs 4,968 crore. SUC collections declined in every quarter of FY24 as a result of the government’s decision to cease charging the statutory fee on airwaves acquired from the 5G auction held in July 2022.
Similarly, pass-through charges fell by 4.26 per cent to Rs 53,579 crore, down from Rs 55,965 crore. However, the licence fee collected in FY24 increased by 8.45 per cent to Rs 21,642 crore, up from Rs 19,954 crore.
Market leader Reliance Jio had the highest AGR of Rs 97,868 crore during the year, rising by 9.62 per cent, while Bharti Airtel saw AGR rising at the highest rate of 12.12 per cent to Rs 80,529 crore. Vodafone Idea’s AGR rose by a marginal 0.79 per cent to Rs 29,605 crore, followed by Rs 8,019 crore paid by state-run telco BSNL, who paid 1.92 per cent less than the previous year.
First Published: Aug 15 2024 | 5:29 PM IST
