Telecom sector AGR up 1.8% to ₹67,835 cr in Dec 2023 qtr: Trai

Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of the telecom service sector increased by 1.88% sequentially to ₹67,835 crore in the December 2023 quarter, as per data released from the telecom regulator Trai. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the AGR, which represents the earnings of telecom companies from telecom services and specified items, grew by 7.84%.

“The YoY rate of growth in Gross Revenue (GR), Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) and AGR in Q.E. Dec-23 over the same quarter in last year has been -4.16%, 5.84% and 7.84% respectively,” the report states.

The telephone subscriber count in India rose from 1,181.13 million in September 2023 to 1,190.33 million in December 2023, marking a growth rate of 0.78% compared to the previous quarter. This reflects YoY rate of growth 1.70% over the same quarter of the last year.

Trai's latest report 'Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators' states, "GR, ApGR and AGR of the telecom service sector for the quarter ended December 2023 has been ₹84,500 crore, ₹81,101 crore and ₹67,835 crore, respectively. GR increased by 2.13%, ApGR increased by 1.70% and AGR increased by 1.88% in the quarter ended December 2023, as compared to the previous quarter."

Access services contributed 82.07% to the total adjusted gross revenue of telecom services.

The report further highlighted that in the Access services segment, there were increases of 2.47% in GR, 2.53% in ApGR, 2.38% in AGR, 2.37% in License Fee, 1.11% in Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC), and 1.78% in Pass Through Charges during the December 2023 quarter.

The License Fee rose from ₹5,326 crore in the September 2023 quarter to ₹5,433 crore in the December 2023 quarter. The quarterly growth rate and the YoY growth rate for license fees are 2.01% and 7.98%, respectively, for this quarter.

Pass Through Charges rose from ₹13,425 crore in the September 2023 quarter to ₹13,452 crore in the December 2023 quarter, marking a quarterly growth rate of 0.21%. However, there was a YoY decline of 6.46% in pass-through charges for the December 2023 quarter.

Specifically, Bharti Airtel's AGR in the Access services category rose by 3.2% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to approximately ₹20,480.58 crore in the December quarter, showing a YoY growth of 11.98%. For Reliance Jio, the AGR increased by 2.67% QoQ to ₹24,862.85 crore, with a YoY growth of 10.08%.

On the other hand, Vodafone Idea, which recently completed its ₹18,000-crore follow-on public offer, experienced a 0.65% sequential dip in its AGR to about ₹7,459.08 crore in the December 2023 quarter, with a YoY growth of 1.78%.

The Trai report also mentioned that Public sector undertakings' share in the Access AGR of telecom services was 3.87% in the December 2023 quarter.