Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks


All three private telecom operators in India have revealed their quarterly results for Q2 FY23. The ARPU (average revenue per user) leader is again Airtel, while Jio is leading in the profitability side of things. Today, we will be comparing the key metrics of the results that the telcos have announced. The results are publicly available to all. Vodafone Idea announced its quarterly results on November 3, 2022. The telco’s loss has widened QoQ marginally, but there has been a decent ARPU gain. Let’s take a look.
Airtel vs Jio vs Vodafone Idea: ARPU, Net Income, and Subscribers
| – | Jio | Airtel | Vodafone Idea (Vi) |
| ARPU | Rs 177.2 | Rs 190 | Rs 131 |
| Net Income (in crores) | Rs 4729 | Rs 2145 | (Rs 7592.5) |
| Subscribers (in millions) | 427.6 | 364 | 234.4 |
Reliance Jio has posted the best income. Jio’s net profits are double of what Airtel has posted despite Airtel having a much higher ARPU. Vodafone Idea is very far behind the other telcos in the ARPU department. If Airtel can add more subscribers at the cost of Vodafone Idea, it will enable the company to get more high-paying 4G subscribers, and with a higher ARPU, Airtel will be able to increase its net income figures significantly.
In the subscribers’ department, Jio is leading by a long margin. However, when it comes to VLR or active subscribers percentage, Airtel is always much ahead of Jio. To boost net income further, Jio will have to increase the ARPU fast.