TelecomLive April-2020

Telecom Fundamentals Strong www.telecomlive.com 33 Telecom LIVE April 2020 Bharti maintaining its market share at 33 pc. So, the competition is showing its result. However, our analysis shows that national long distance (NLD) revenue of two operators – Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea – is almost kept at the same levels (Rs 3,000 cr per quarter aprx) for last several quarters (see table and charts at page 37). This is strange. We also noted that BSNL / MTNL was the pioneer player in the NLD business. No one else could have better networks than them. But, its revenue is much lower at Rs 874 crore per quarter averaged over last five quarters. There could be two reasons for this. Besides lower traffic, the other major reason is that it charges 6 paisa to 8 paisa per minute for carrying NLD calls above 20 km distance from other operators. These charges are uniform (above 20 km), irrespec- tive of distance. The same tariff BSNL uses for calculating the revenues generated from NLD business from its own inter-circle BSNL-BSNL NLD traffic. For the last three to four years, the tariffs remained at that level. Prior to that, in 2009-10, BSNL used to charge 10 to 12 paisa per minutes. In comparison, it is learnt that Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea do not allow their NLD networks to be used by other telcos so that they don't have to disclose the NLD tariff. And for their own NLD revenues, they have fixed a very high rate of 35 paisa per seen increase by 21 pc. The figures of third quarter are driven by the December tariff hikes by all the telcos which is expected to boost the sector top- line by 15-20 pc in FY21. Jio has become the market leader in AGR in 17 circles now, while Bharti Airtel led in three circles (Delhi, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu) and Vodafone-Idea in two (Mumbai and Kerala). “With all telco operators hiking tariffs from December 2019 (Jio has maintained a gap of 10-15 pc tariff differential vs. incumbents), Jio has continued to gain market share in price-sensitive markets (circles B and C),” SBI Cap said. The brokerage expects Jio's RMS at 42 pc by end of FY21, and AGR for Quarter ending Dec 2019 (Rs crore) Telcos Access Services Other Revenue Total % Reliance Jio 12,631.95 291.42 12,923.37 33.43 Bharti Airtel 8,143.48 3,613.36 11,756.84 30.41 Vodafone Idea 6,510.97 3,361.76 9,872.73 25.54 BSNL 1,950.61 921.95 2,872.56 7.43 Tata Teleservices 499.61 52.25 551.86 1.43 MTNL 476.14 0.45 476.59 1.23 Reliance Com 107.22 91.82 199.04 0.51 Quadrant 1.98 - 1.98 0.01 Total 30,321.96 8,333.01 38,654.97 100 Reliance Jio 33.43 Bhar Airtel 30.41 Vodafone Idea 25.54 BSNL 7.43 Tata Teleservices 1.43 MTNL 1.23 Reliance Com 0.51 Quadrant 0.01 AGR Market Share QE Dec 2019 (In %)