Reliance Jio has become the only operator in the April to June 2021 quarter that saw a gain in revenue market share. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data reviewed by ET Telecom, Jio has become the only operator amongst Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea (Vi) to gain revenue market share (RMS) in April-June 2021 quarter. The JioPhone offer announced in March this year has helped the telco a lot. Further, Jio saw strong growth in the revenue that came from national long distance (NLD) services.
Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel RMS Went Down Because of This
Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Bharti Airtel saw their RMS going down in April-June 2021 quarter. This is because their revenues from NLD went down. According to TRAI data analysed by major analysts, Jio’s RMS grew 242 bps quarter-on-quarter which took its RMS to 39.5%. At the same time, Bharti Airtel’s RMS dipped by 82 bps sequentially to 34.9%, while Vi’s RMS fell by 119 bps to 18.6%.
No one can ignore that during April-June 2021 quarter, the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, and there were lockdowns that affected the industry and the telcos to grow at the rate they should have.
Reliance Jio performed well on the back of the new JioPhone 2021 offer. According to TRAI data, the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel grew 10.5% and 1.3% sequentially to Rs 18,100 crore and Rs 16,000 crore, respectively. At the same time, Vodafone Idea’s AGR fell 2.5% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 8,500 crore.
But the sector is expected to recover in the July-September 2021 quarter as markets reopen and people can consume services at full flow. Even the effect of the JioPhone 2021 offer should subside in the coming months. At present, everyone in the market will be focusing on the JioPhone Next that is slated to launch on September 10, 2021.
