Indian telecom service gross revenue increased 10.24 percent to Rs 54,284 crore in the first quarter of 2013, according to TRAI.
Telecom regulator TRAI said the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) grew 2.39 percent to Rs 35,279 crore.
“Gross Revenue and Adjusted Gross Revenue of telecom service sector for the quarter ending March 2013 has been Rs 54,283.78 crore and Rs 35,279.50 crore, respectively. The year-on-year growth in GR and AGR over the same quarter last year has been 10.24 percent and 2.39 percent, respectively,” TRAI data said.
Bharti Airtel posted AGR of Rs 8,036.21 crore during the quarter, followed by Vodafone at Rs 6,015.54 crore, Idea Cellular Rs 4,234.12 crore, BSNL Rs 2,977 crore and Reliance Communications 1,966.5 crore.
The sector saw growth in revenue despite number of telephone subscribers in India declining by 5.61 percent to 89.8 crore in March 2013 from 95.13 crore in March 2012.
Indian mobile market saw 7.84 percent increase in consumer’s monthly spend on GSM network, while it jumped 26.51 percent on CDMA network on yearly basis.
Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for GSM service rose 7.84 percent to Rs 105 in March 2013.
Monthly ARPU for CDMA- full mobility service increased 26.51 percent to Rs 95 in March 2013.
There was a net addition of 3.08 million subscribers during the first quarter.
Subscription in urban areas decreased to 548.80 million in March 2013 from 556.96 million in December 2012. Urban Teledensity declined from 149.90 to 146.96.
Rural subscription increased to 349.22 million from 338.54 million. Rural Teledensity increased from 39.85 to 41.02.
Share of subscription in rural areas out of total subscription increased from 37.80 percent to 38.89 percent.
The total wireless (GSM+CDMA) subscriber base rose 0.36 percent to 867.80 million in March 2013 from 864.72 million in December 2012.
On year-on-year basis, the wireless market based on subscribers dipped 5.59 percent, TRAI said.
Wireless Teledensity slightly increased from 70.82 in December 2012 to 70.85 in March 2013.
Wireline subscriber base declined from 30.79 million in December 2012 to 30.21 million in March 2013.
Meanwhile, the government on Thursday approved 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the telecom sector, meeting a key demand of the fund-starved industry.
The strategy behind increasing the FDI limit — from 74 percent to 100 percent — in the telecom sector is to help the industry get fresh funds to lower financial burden.
