The Trai today released 'Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report' for the quarter ending July-September 2020. As we have seen with the monthly reports for July, August and September, Bharti Airtel has added more than 10 million new customers during the quarter. At the end of June 2020, Airtel' subscriber base stood at 316.6 million, which increased to 326.6 million at the end of September 2020. In comparison, Reliance Jio ended June 2020 with 397.2 million user base, and it rose to 404.1 million at the end of September 2020. The report further added that the number of telephone subscribers increased from 1,160.52 million at the end of June 30, 2020, to 1,168.66 million at the end of September 30, 2020. The overall telecom industry saw a growth of 0.70% on the user base aspect. The prepaid ARPU reached Rs 90 during the same period, whereas the postpaid ARPU increase to Rs 234.
Total Wireless Subscriber Base Gets a Boost by 7.88 Million
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) highlighted that the total wireless subscriber base increased by 7.88 million to 1,148.58 million at the end of September 30, 2020. However, the report confirmed the wireless subscriptions declined on YoY basis at the rate of 2.14% during the year.
The wireless tele-density increased from 84.38% to 84.74% with a quarterly growth rate of 0.43%. The total number of internet subscribers increased from 749.07 million to 776.45 million.
Wireless Subscriber Base Reaches 20.08 Million
The total number of wireline subscribers increased from 19.81 million to 20.08 million, with a quarterly growth rate of 1.34%. However, Trai says the wireline subscriptions declined by 6.58% YoY basis at the end of Q2 FY21. Out of the 776.45 million internet subscribers, the number of wired internet subscribers are 24.36 million and the number of wireless internet subscribers are 752.09 million, Trai said.
Prepaid and Postpaid ARPU Increased in QE September 20
Furthermore, the Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 7.49% from Rs 90.12 to Rs 96.87. If we compare the data on a YoY basis, the monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 30.24% in this quarter.
As for the prepaid ARPU, it saw an increase of Rs 6 from Rs 84 to Rs 90 in the Quarter Ended September 30, 2020. The postpaid ARPU also increased from Rs 224 to Rs 234 during the same period.
The increase in ARPU comes as a relief for the industry. After several quarters of struggle, telecom operators are finally showing some positive growth financially. If we compared the ARPU individually, Bharti Airtel tops the chart followed by Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.
