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Tag: Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited

  • Aakhya India hires Himansh Dhomse as senior account director

    Aakhya India hires Himansh Dhomse as senior account director

    MUMBAI: He spent almost nine years of the initial part of his career as a journalist with Business Standarad and DNA aa financial correspondent. In 2014, Himansh Dhomse switched careers  joining the investor relations department at Infibeam in Ahmedabad. In a year and a half, Reliance Jio Infocomm lured him to head its corporate communications for the state –  a post he stayed in for seven years until January 2023.

    A good two years followed as a senior account director once again in home base in Ahmedabad with communications consulting firm The Good Edge. Two years later Himashu has joined Aakhya India as associate director of communications for the firm, functioning as the CMO for Gujarat, based in Gandhinagar.

    Founded in 2012, Aakhya India is an independent, full-service strategic public affairs consultancy firm specialising in policy advocacy, communications and public relations. The company has specialists in communications consultancy straddling deftly the worlds of policy advocacy, government relations and strategic media relations.

     

  • Jio topline almost triples as op rev climbs in Q1-20

    Jio topline almost triples as op rev climbs in Q1-20

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s largest start-up in the world Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio Infocomm) saw standalone operating revenue climb 33.7 percent to Rs 16,557 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2020 (Q1 2020, period or quarter under review) as compared to the Rs 12,383 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter Q1 2020. Standalone profit after tax (PAT) increased 182.83 percent (almost tripled) in the quarter under review to Rs 2,520 crore from Rs 891 crore in Q1 2020.

    The company says in an earnings media release that customer addition in Q1 2021 was 0.99 crore despite the COVID2019 related impact. It closed the quarter with 39.83 crore subscribers and ARPU of Rs 140.30 per subscriber per month, higher than the Rs 130.6 in the immediate trailing quarter Q4 2020.

    Jio Infocomm standalone EBITDA for Q1 2021 was Rs 7,005 crore, which was 50 percent higher y-o-y than the Rs 4,670 crore for Q1 2020. Standalone total income (net operating revenue plus other income. without GST) for Q1 2021 increased 35.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 16,833 crore from Rs 12,399 crore in Q1 2020. Jio Infocomm’s network standalone operating expenses during the period under review increased 36.6 percent to Rs 5,225 crore from Rs 3,284 crore.  Standalone access charges in Q1 2021 fell 10.4 percent to Rs 1,393 crore from Rs 1,555 crore. Standalone license fees/spectrum charges for Q1 2021 increased 41.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,818 crore from Rs 1,287 crore in Q1 2020. Standalone employee benefit expense in Q1 2021 fell 18.9 percent to Rs 318 crore from Rs 392 crore in Q1 2020. Standalone net finance cost in Q1 2021 declined 29.6 percent to Rs 1,168 crore from Rs 1,660 crore in Q1 2020. Standalone other expenses in Q1 2021 fell 3.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 523 crore from Rs 310 crore in Q1 2020.

    Jio Platforms Ltd

    Jio Platforms Ltd (Jio Platforms) is an Indian digital services company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. The company owns India's largest mobile network operator Jio Infocom and other digital businesses of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Jio Platforms has raised Rs 152,056 crores to bolster Jio’s initiatives towards delivering breakthrough technologies and building the world’s leading digital services platform. Jio Platforms has raised the money across thirteen investors which includes Facebook, Google, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures. Reliance Industries, post completion of these investments, would hold 66.48 percent equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. Of the total investment, Jio Platforms Limited has already received Rs 1,15,694 crore as subscription amount.

    Jio Platforms consolidated revenue for Q1 2021 increased 12.2 percent from Rs 15,373 crore reported for the immediate trailing quarter. Jio Platforms consolidated PAT for Q1 2021 increased 6 percent to Rs 2,519 crore from Rs 2,377 crore in Q4 2020. Jio Platforms consolidated EBITDA for Q1 2021 increased 12.8 percent q-o-q to Rs 7,047 crore from Rs 6,250 crore in Q4 2020.

    Company Speak

    RIL chairman and managing director Ambani said: “Jio started with a vision of connecting everything by building a robust and secure wireless and digital network and extending the benefits of digital connectivity to everyone in India. Thirteen investors, which include the largest technology companies and investors globally, now share a common vision with us. Jio Platforms Limited with partnerships across promising Indian start-ups and globally renowned technology companies is set to drive the next leg of hyper-growth for digital businesses. Our growth strategy is aimed at meeting the needs of all the 1.3 billion (130 crore) Indians. We remain focused on playing a leading role India’s transformation into a digital society.”

    Reliance Industries

    RIL consolidated revenue for the quarter was Rs 100,929 crore. Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 21,585 crore. RIL says that despite lockdown due to COVID2019, net profit including exceptional items for the quarter was higher by 30.6 percent y-o-y at `Rs13,248 crore. Cash Profit was also higher by 16.7 percent y-o-y at Rs 18,893 crore. EPS including exceptional items for the quarter was Rs 20.7 per share, increased 22.1 percent y-o-y.

  • Broadband subscriber growth picks up in October 2019

    Broadband subscriber growth picks up in October 2019

    BENGALURU: Overall broadband internet subscribers in India grew by 1.866 crore or 2.98 per cent  in the month ended 31 October 2019 (Oct-19) from the numbers reported by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for the month ended 30 September 2019 (Sep-19). TRAI reported 62.542 crore (625.42 million or 6,254.2 lakh) broadband internet subscribers across all segments for Sep-19. This number grew to 64.408 crore (644.08 million or 6,440.8 lakh) in Oct-19 as per the latest numbers published by Trai.

    Subscriber growth for Oct-19 was the third highest over a 22-month period starting Jan-18 until Oct-19 in absolute numbers. In percentage terms, Oct-19 saw the ninth highest growth during the same period. Over the period under consideration in the paper, broadband internet subscriber growth has been on a decline as is evident from the black trend line the graph below:

    The figure below shows the subscriber growth ranking for the months during the period under consideration in this paper in terms of absolute growth numbers as well as per centage terms.

    Trai data reveals that broadband subscribers grew by 1.857 crore (18.57 million or 185.7 lakh) or 3.06 per cent to 62.441 crore in Oct-19 from 60.584 crore (605.84 million or 6,054.8 lakh) in Sep-19 on the Mobiles (Phones and dongles) segment. Wired broadband internet segment grew by 0.007 crore (0.07 million or 0.07 lakh) or 0.37 per cent in Oct-19 to 1.908 crore(19.08 million or 190.8 lakh) from 1.901 crore (19.01 million or 190.1 lakh) in Sep-19. Fixed wireless – WiFi, WiMax, Point to Pont, Radio, Vsat subscribers grew 0.002 crore (0.02 million or 0.2 lakh) or 4.22 per cent to 0.059 crore (0.59 million or 5.9 lakh) in Oct-19 from 0.057 crore (0.57 million or 5.7 lakh) in the previous month.

    Please refer to the figure below.

    Top 5 Broadband Internet Subscribers

    According to Trai data, the top five broadband internet service providers constituted 98.98 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Oct-19. These service providers were Reliance JioInfocom Ltd 36.512 crore (365.12 million or 3,651.2 lakh), Bharti Airtel 13.286 crore (132.86 million or 1,328.6 lakh), Vodafone Idea 11.580 crore (115.80 million or 1,158 lakh), BSNL 2.27 crore (22.27 million or 2,227 lakh) and Atria Convergence 0.149 crore (1.49 million or 14.9 lakh).

    Top 5 wireless broadband internet subscribers

    As on 31 October, 2019, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd with 36.433 crore (364.33 million or 3,643.3 lakh), Bharti Airtel with 13.045 crore (130.45 million or 1,304.5 lakh), Vodafone Idea with 11.578 crore (115.78 million or 1,157.8 lakh), BSNL with 1.364 crore (13.64 million 136.4 lakh) and MTNL with 0.02 crore (0.20 million or 20 lakh) subscribers.

    Top 5 wired broadband internet subscribers

    As on 31 October, 2019, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL with 0.862 crore (8.62 million, 86.2 lakh), Bharti Airtel 0.24 crore (2.40 million or 24 lakh), Atria Convergence Technologies with 0.149 crore (1.49 million or 14.9 lakh), Hathway Cable & Datacom with 0.087 crore (0.87 million or 8.7 lakh) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 0.079 crore (0.79 million or 7.9 lakh). Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited is a new entrant to the top 5 list in October 2019. It replaced You Broadband which had 0.075 crore (0.75 million or 7.9 lakh) broadband internet subscribers in Sep-19. BSNL and Bharti Airtel Limited both lost wired broadband internet subscribers in Oct-19.

    The top five wired broadband internet service providers lost 80,000 subscribers in Oct-19. Since the wired internet broadband subscriber base grew by 70,000 during the same period, other smaller service providers which include MSOs and LCOs must have added 150,000 subscribers in Oct-19.

  • Jio juggernaut marches on with 62 percent bottomline growth in Q3 2020

    Jio juggernaut marches on with 62 percent bottomline growth in Q3 2020

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Dhirbhai Ambani’s largest start up in the world, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) reported 62.5 percent growth in standalone profit after tax (PAT) for the period ended 31 December 2019 (Q3 2020, period or quarter under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter Q3 2019 (y-o-y). The company reported standalone PAT of Rs 1,350 crore for Q3 2020 as compared to Rs 831 crore for Q3 2019. The company’s standalone EBIDTA (including other income) expanded 38.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 5,601 crore in Q3 2020 from Rs 4,053 crore. Jio says that it became a net recipient of access charges within 2 months of implementation of IUC tariffs, with outgoing traffic in overall offnet traffic reducing to 48 percent by end of quarter.

    Further, the company’s standalone revenue from operations for the period under review grew 28.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 13,968 crore from Rs 10,884 crore in Q3 2019. Total income in Q3 2020 grew 28.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 13,986 crore from Rs 10,885 crore.

    Jio reported a subscriber base of 37 crore as on 31 December 2019. Gross subscriber additions were 3.71 crore with a net subscriber addition of 1.48 crore during Q3 2020. The company says that the 2.2 crore subscribers that were lost were primarily excessively heavy voice users, and exited owing to implementation of IUC tariffs due to regulatory uncertainty. ARPU during the quarter was Rs 128.4 per subscriber per month Jio says that customer engagement continues to be robust with average data consumption per user per month of 11.1 GB and average voice consumption of 760 minutes per user per month.

    Let us look at the other expenses reported by Jio

    Amongst the major expenses incurred by Jio in Q3 2020 were network operating expenses, access charges, license fees and spectrum charges and net finance costs.

    Jio’s standalone network operating expenses increased 38.7 percent y-o-y in Q3 2020 to Rs 4,423 crore from Rs 3,190 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter.  Standalone access charges reduced 4.2 percent y-o-y during the period under review to Rs 1,442 crore from Rs 1,506 crore in Q3 2019. Standalone license fees and spectrum charges increased 30.5 percent y-o-y during the quarter to Rs 1,483 crore from Rs 1,136 crore. Standalone net finance costs in Q3 2020 increased 79 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,953 crore from Rs 1,091 crore in Q3 2019.

    Standalone employee benefit expense in Q3 2020 declined 26.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 314 crore from Rs 426 crore. Standalone selling and distribution expense in Q3 2020 increased 20.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 356 crore from Rs 296 crore. Standalone other expenses in the period increased 32 percent y-o-y to Rs 367 crore from Rs 278 crore.

    Company speak

    Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman and managing director Ambani said; “Jio has continued on its unprecedented growth journey receiving overwhelming customer response for best in class mobile connectivity services. We are delivering on our promise to be the driver of digital revolution in the country. Jio is also determined to redefine the wireline infrastructure, home entertainment and enterprise market in India with its FTTx services which bundle best-in-class connectivity with bouquet of digital content and services. To drive the next leg of growth, a truly transformational and disruptive digital services company has been set-up which will bring together India’s No.1 connectivity platform, leading digital app ecosystem and world’s best tech capabilities, for creating a truly Digital Society for each Indian.”

    Jio Platforms Limited

    Jio says in an earnings release that Jio Platforms Limited will hold all digital platforms including the connectivity platform i.e. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited. Total capitalisation of Jio Platforms Limited is Rs 1,70,000 crore. The release says that the capital and organisation structure of Jio Platforms Limited has been benchmarked with global technology players.

    The Jio release also states that it has been developing and fostering a vibrant digital ecosystem through various digital applications, tools and platforms spanning self-care, information, entertainment, chat, utility tools etc. The release further states that Jio continues to focus on technology enabled emerging digital platforms that enable and accelerate digital society – healthcare, education, agriculture, commerce, gaming, government to citizen services, and many more. The company says that the platforms are also backed by investment in next-gen technologies like blockchain, AI/ ML, AR/ MR, edge computing.

  • Broadband internet subscriber growth petering out?

    Broadband internet subscriber growth petering out?

    BENGALURU: Has the broadband internet subscriber growth in the country started petering out in 2019? Analysis of Telecom subscription data furnished by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) indicates that month-on-month subscriber growth rates are reducing despite the stupendous growth at the start of calendar year 2019 (CY 2019). The latest data from TRAI is for the month ended 30 September 2019 or Sep-19 (month under consideration). Sep-19 saw broadband internet subscribers grow by just 0.999 crore in net absolute numbers, or by 1.62 percent from the previous month Aug-19. In absolute number of subscriber additions, Sep-19 was ranked 15 over a 21 month period and was ranked 17 over the same period in percentage terms.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    During the 21 month period under consideration in this paper, Jan-19 saw the highest number of subscriber additions at 2.149 crore (21.49 million or 214.9 lakh). Jan-19 was ranked third during the 21 month period in terms of percentage growth at 4.1 percent. Mar-18 saw the highest subscriber growth in percentage terms at 5.2%. In absolute numbers, Mar-19 saw the second highest number of subscriber addition at 2.054 crore (20.54 million, 205.4 lakh).

    Please refer to the figure below:

    Broadband Internet Segment Trends

    TRAI has segmented Broadband internet into 3 main platforms, viz. Wired; Mobiles (Phones and dongles); and Fixed wireless- WiFi, Wi Max, Point to Point, Radio, Vsat. As has been the norm, the Mobile (Phones and dongles) had the highest subscriber growth in terms of absolute numbers at 0.929 crore or 9.29 million or 92.9 lakh (at 1.97 percent) in Sep-19 over Aug-19. In percentage terms, the Wired Broadband internet segment had the highest growth in Sep-19 over Aug-19 at 3.96 percent. Please refer to the figure below:

    Overall Broadband Internet Subscribers on all platforms

    The top five service providers constituted 98.96 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Sep-19. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd 35.593 crore (355.93 million, 3,559.3 lakh) subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 12.783 crore (127.83 million, 1,278.3 lakh) subscribers, Vodafone Idea with 11.219 crore (112.19 million, 1,121.9 lakh) subscribers, BSNL with 2.152 crore (21.52 million, 215.2 lakh) subscribers and Atria Convergence 0.148 crore (1.48 million, 14.8 lakh) subscribers. All the five players saw subscriber growth in Sep-19.

    Wireless Broadband Internet Subscribers

    The top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd with 35.522 crore (355.22 million, 3,552.2 lakh) subscribers , Bharti Airtel with 12.542 crore (125.42 million, 1,254.2 lakh) subscribers, Vodafone Idea with 11.217 crore (112.17 million, 1,121.7 lakh) subscribers, BSNL with 1.282 crore (12.82 million, 128.2 lakh) subscribers and MTNL with 0.021 crore (0.21 million, 2.1 lakh) subscribers. The first four ranks saw their subscribers grow, while MTNL witnessed a flat growth in Sep-19.

    Wired Broadband Internet Subscribers

    The top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL with 0.869 crore (8.69 million, 86.9 lakh) subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 0.241 crore (2.41 million, 24.1 lakh) subscribers, Atria Convergence Technologies with 0.148 crore (1.48 million, 14.8 lakh) subscribers, Hathway Cable & Datacom with 0.086 crore (0.86 million, 8.6 lakh) subscribers and You Broadband with 0.075 crore (0.75 million, 7.5 lakh) subscribers.

    Wired broadband subscriber base grew by 69,000 according to TRAI data, but the top 5 Wired Broadband Internet players saw their combined subscriber base erode by 80,000. This indicates that the other internet service players which include MSOs’s and LCOs’ added 0.0149 crore (0.149 million or 1.49 lakh). Among the top 5 wired broadband internet players, it was only the public sector that saw erosion of its subscriber base – by 0.01 crore (0.1 million, 1 lakh). ACT and Hathway saw subscriber additions of 10,000, while Airtel and You Broadband saw no fresh subscriber additions.

  • Broadband subscriber growth improved in Jun-19

    Broadband subscriber growth improved in Jun-19

    BENGALURU: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for the month ended 30 June 2019 (Jun-19, month or period under review) reveals that broadband subscriber additions have improved. Jun-19 recorded the second-highest number of subscriber additions in a month in the calendar year (CY 19) until 30 June 2019 at 130.8 lakh. The highest number of subscriber additions in CY 2019 was in the month ended 31 January 2019 (Jan-19) at 214.l9 lakh. 130.7 lakh broadband subscribers were added in India in the month ended 31 March 2019 (Mar-19).

    The highest growth in broadband subscribers was wireless internet subscribers through Mobile – (Phones and Dongles) with 131.1 lakh subscriber additions during the period under review. Wired internet subscriber base in Jun-19 declined by 30,000, while subscribers of Fixed wireless- WiFi, Wi Max, Point to Point, Radio, Vsat remained static at 5.4 lakh.

    Wireless broadband internet subscribers

    In the case of wireless or mobile, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio) was the biggest contributor in terms of broadband subscribers with 82.7 lakh subscribers added during the month under review. Jio’s subscriber base in Jun-19 was 3,312.6 lakh as compared to 3,229.9 lakh subscribers in May-19. Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), the second largest wireless broadband internet player in terms of subscribers, added 31.40 lakh wireless subscribers in Jun-19 to take its subscriber base to 1,190.90 lakh from 1,159,5 lakh in May-19. At third rank, the merged Idea-Vodafone entity added 15.1 lakh subscribers in Jun-19 to achieve a subscriber base of 1,105 lakh from 1,089.9 lakh in May-19. The fourth-ranked public sector BSNL added 3 lakh wireless broadband subscribers in Jun-19 for subscriber base of 128.7 lakh from 125.7 lakh in May-19. At fifth rank, Tata Teleservices saw its wireless broadband subscriber base decline by 90,000 to 14 lakh in Jun-19 from 14.9 lakh in May-19.

    Wired broadband internet subscribers 

    As mentioned above, wired internet subscriber base declined by 30,000 in Jun-19 to 18.42 lakh in Jun-19 from 18.45 lakh in May-19. The two public sector wired broadband internet service providers – BSNL and MTNL lost 1.3 lakh wired broadband internet subscribers. Among the top 5 wired internet broadband internet subscribers, three private players added 1.1 lakh subscribers. Besides BSNL and MTNL losing 20,000 wired broadband subscribers, another 10,000 subscribers were lost by the other players during Jun-19.

    BSNL continued to be the leading wired broadband internet services provider in Jun-19 with 90.5 lakh subscribers as compared to 90.9 lakh subscribers in the previous month, hence incurred a loss of 40,000 subscribers during the month. At second place was Airtel which added 10,000 subscribers in Jun-19 for a subscriber base of 24 lakh as compared to 23.9 lakh in May-19. Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT was ranked third in terms of number of wired broadband subscribers. ACT also added 10,000 subscribers in Jun-19 to reach a subscriber base of 14.5 lakh as compared to 14.4 lakh in May-19. Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd (Hathway) added 90,000 wired broadband subscribers to reach a subscriber base of 8.4 lakh in Jun-19 from 7.5 lakh in May-19. Fifth-ranked MTNL lost 90,000 subscribers in Jun-19 to reach a base of 7.4 lakh wired broadband subscribers in Jun-19 from 8.3 lakh in May-19.

    All broadband internet subscribers

    The top five broadband service providers constituted 98.72 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Jun-19. These service providers were Jio with 3,312.6 lakh (331.26 million, 33.126 crore) subscribers, Airtel with 1,214.93 lakh (121.49 million, 12.149 crore) subscribers, Vodafone Idea with 1,105.2 lakh (110.52 million, 11.052 crore) subscribers, BSNL with 219.3 lakh (21.93 million, 2.193 crore) subscribers and Tata Teleservices with 17.6 lakh (1.76 million, 0.176 crore) subscribers.

  • Jio PAT at Rs 891 cr; FTTH beta trails encouraging

    Jio PAT at Rs 891 cr; FTTH beta trails encouraging

    BENGALURU:  Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s largest startup company in the world – Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) reported 6.1 percent growth in standalone profit after taxes (PAT) at Rs 891 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2019 (Q1 2020, quarter or period under review) as compared to the Rs 840 crore in the immediate trailing quarter (q-o-q) or Q4 2019. Standalone EBITDA for the period under review increased 8.2 percent q-o-q to Rs 4,686 crore (40.1 percent margin) as compared to Rs 4,329 crore (39 percent margin).

    The result of the quarter ended 30 June 2019 are not comparable with the corresponding figures for the previous period to the extent of the demerger of the Optic Fibre Cable Undertaking and transfer of Tower Infrastructure Undertaking of the Company pursuant to Composite Scheme of Arrangement with appointed date as 31 March 2019. The company says that the numbers for the year ago quarter are not comparable with the quarter under review and have been regrouped wherever necessary. Hence this report looks at the q-o-q comparison.

    Jio says in an earnings release that ongoing beta trials of JioGigaFiber services is in its final stages, and early signs have been very encouraging.

    FTTH Enterprise services are also being rolled out gradually reveals the company further.

    Reliance Industries Limited Ambani, chairman and managing director,

    said: “Growth in Jio mobility services has continued to surpass all expectations. In less than two years of commercial operations, Jio network carried almost 11 Exabytes of data traffic during the recently concluded fiscal quarter. Jio management is focused on giving unmatched digital experience at most affordable price to every citizen of the country, and accordingly expanding the network capacity and coverage to keep pace with demand. Jio has started connecting Enterprises with its next-gen connectivity solutions on the back of its extensive fiber network across the country. Beta trials of JioGigaFiber services have been very successful and the entire bouquet of smart home solutions would soon be rolled out to targeted 50 million households and beyond. Jio is committed to power the Digital Revolution in India through its technology platforms across communication, entertainment, commerce, financial services, education, healthcare, agriculture and beyond.”

    Jio reported 5.2 percent q-o-q growth in standalone operating revenue at Rs 11,679 crore for Q1 2020 as compared to Rs 11,106 crore in Q4 2019. The company says that its subscriber base as on 30th June 2019  was 33.13 crore (331.3 million, 3,313 lakh). It claims lowest churn in the industry at 0.97 percent per month. Jio says that ARPU during the quarter was Rs 122.0 per subscriber per month. It says that total wireless data traffic during the quarter was1,090 crore GB and total voice traffic during the quarter was 78,597 crore minutes.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by Jio

    Total expenses for Q1 2020 grew 5.2 percent q-o-q to Rs 10,326 crore from Rs  9,818 crore. Network operating expenses in Q1 2020 grew 12.6 percent q-o-q to Rs 3,824 crore from Rs 3,401 crore. Access charges (Net) declined 22.6 percent to Rs 851 crore in the period under review from Rs 1,099 crore. License Fees/Spectrum charges increased 9.1 percent q-o-q to Rs 1,287 crore from Rs 1,180 crore. Employee benefits expense for the period declined 14.4 percent q-o-q to Rs 392 crore from Rs 458 crore. Net Finance charges for Q1 2020 increased 28.3 percent q-o-q to Rs 1,660 crore from Rs 1,294 crore. Selling and distribution expenses for the quarter increased 4.9 percent q-o-q to Rs 345 crore from Rs 329 crore. Other expenses declined 1 percent q-o-q to Rs 310 crore from Rs 313 crore.

  • Broadband subs growth still sluggish in May 2019

    Broadband subs growth still sluggish in May 2019

    BENGALURU: India’s broadband subscribers growth has slowed down over the past few months according to data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). For the first time in 17 months, two consecutive months saw subscribers grow less than 1 crore (10 million, 100 lakh) per month. India’s broadband internet subscribers grew by 0.956 crore (9.56 million, 95.6 lakh) or 1.7 percent month-on-month (m-o-m) in the month ended 31 May 2019 (May-19, month under review) and grew by 0.864 crore (8.64 million, 86.4 lakh) or 1.5 percent m-o-m in the month ended 30 April 2019 (Apr-19). In March 2019, broadband internet subscribers grew by 1.307 crore (13.07 million, 130.7 lakh) or 2.5 percent m-o-m as compared to Feb-19. Broadband internet subscribers across all platforms grew in May-19 to 58.151 crore (581.51 million, 5,815.1 lakh) from 57.195 crore (571.95 million, 5,719.5 lakh) in Apr-19. The total broadband subscriber base in Mar-19 stood at 56.331 crore (563.31 million, 5,633.1 lakh).

    As has been the norm, broadband internet subscriber growth was led by Mobile devices users (Phones and dongles) in May-19. Mobile device broadband subscribers grew by 1.027 crore (10.27 million, 102.7 lakh) or 1.8 percent m-o-m to 56.252 crore (562.52 million, 5,625.2 lakh) in May-19 from 55.225 crore (552.25 million, 5,522.5 lakh) in Apr-19. Mukesh Dhirbhai Ambani’s biggest startup in the world – Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) led growth with the addition of 0.818 crore (8.18 million, 81.8 lakh) in May-19 at 32.299 crore (322.99 million or 3,229.9 lakh) from 31.481 crore (318.41 million, 3,184.1 lakh) in Apr-19. Bharti Airtel (Airtel) witnessed wireless subscriber growth of 0.262 crore (2.62 million or 26.2 lakh) in May-19 at 11.595 crore (115.95 million or 1,159.5 lakh) from 11.333 crore (113.33 million or 1,133.3 lakh) in Apr-19. The third largest broadband internet services player in the country – the Vodafone-Idea combine saw wireless internet subscribers decline by 0.065 crore (0.65 million or 6.5 lakh) in May-19 to 10.899 crore (108.99 million or 1,089.9 lakh) from 10.964 crore (109.64 million, 1,096.4 lakh) in Apr-19. The public sector BSNL saw subscribers grow 0.018 crore (0.18 million, 1.8 lakh) to 1.257 crore (12.57 million or 125.7 lakh) from 1.239 crore (12.39 million or 123.9 lakh) in Apr-19.

    Wired subscribers grew 0.2 percent or by 40,000 to 1.845 crore (18.45 million, 184.5 lakh) in May-19 from 1.841 crore (18.41 million or 184.1 lakh) in Apr-19. Three of the five top wired internet players saw subscriber growth, one witnessed decline and one saw no growth at all. The largest wired broadband internet player- BSNL saw subscribers decline by 60,000 to 0.909 crore (9.09 million or 90.9 crore) in May-19 from 0.915 crore (9.15 million or 91.5 lakh) in Apr-19. The largest private wired broadband internets services player in the country – Airtel witnessed subscriber growth of 10,000 to 0.239 crore (2.39 million or 23.9 lakh) in May-19 from 0.238 crore (2.38 million or 23.8 lakh) in Apr-19. Atria Convergence Technologies or  ACT also witnessed subscriber growth of 10,000 in May-19 to 0.144 crore (1.44 million or 14.4) lakh from 0.143 crore (1.43 million or 14.3 lakh). The fourth largest wired internet services player in terms of subscribers – Hathway also saw its subscriber base grow by 10,000 to 0.083 crore (0.83 million or 8.3 lakh) from 0.082 crore (0.82 million or 8.2 lakh). The fifth largest wired broadband internet services player – MTNL saw no growth in subscribers in May-19 as compared to Apr-19. BASNL had a subscriber growth of 0.075 crore (0.75 million or 7.5 lakh) at the end of May-19.

    The top five broadband internet service providers across all platforms constituted 98.69 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of May-19. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd  (Jio)  at 32.299 crore (322.99 million, 3,229.9 lakh), Bharti Airtel 11.834 crore (118.34 million, 1,183.4 lakh), Vodafone Idea 10.901 crore (109.01 million, 1,090.1 lakh), BSNL 2.167 crore (21.67 million or 216.7 lakh) and Tata Teleservices 0.187 crore (1.87 million, 18.7 lakh).

  • Reliance Jio acquires another 12% of Den Networks

    Reliance Jio acquires another 12% of Den Networks

    BENGALURU: Under disclosures of SEBI Regulations for Substantial Acquisitions of Shares and Takeovers (SAST), three Reliance Jio companies have informed the stock exchanges that they have increased their holdings in Indian multi system operator (MSO) Den Networks from 66.57 percent to 78.62 percent or increased their holdings by 12.05 percent which translates to roughly 5.75 crore shares. The three Jio companies are Jio Futuristic Digital Holdings Pvt Ltd, Jio Digital Distribution Holdings Pvt Ltd and Jio Television Distribution Holdings Pvt Ltd.

    As mentioned by us in October 2018 (http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/ril-close-to-buying-majority-stakes-in-den-hathway-181016) , Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) had announced the following strategic investments through a preferential issue under SEBI regulations and a secondary purchase to acquire a 66 per cent stake in Den Networks Ltd. Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) is a mobile network operator owned by Reliance Industries Limited. Besides Den Networks, RIL had also announced strategic investments in the Rajan Raheja-controlled  Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd at that time RIL said that these strategic investments are in furtherance of Reliance’s mission of connecting everyone and everything, everywhere – always at the highest quality and the most affordable price and transforming India’s digital landscape.

  • Airtel Digital TV numbers up in Q3 2018

    Airtel Digital TV numbers up in Q3 2018

    BENGALURU: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Airtel) Digital TV services segment reported 7.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase, 3.2 per cent y-o-y increase and 4.5 per cent y-o-y increase in operating revenues, EBITDA and EBIT respectively for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3 2019, quarter, period, under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter. The company’s subscriber base increased 7.6 per cent y-o-y to reach 1.5 crore subscribers as on 31 December 2019.

    In the meantime, hit by Mukesh Dhirbhai Amabani’s relentless Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd juggernaut, Airtel’s own numbers have been falling mainly due to the fall in numbers of its mobile services in India. 

    Airtel Digital TV services revenue for the period was Rs 1,033 crore as compared to Rs 964.3 crore for the corresponding year ago period. EBITDA for Q3 2019 was Rs 382.6 crore (37 per cent of operating revenue) as compared to Rs 370.8 crore (38.5 per cent of operating margin in Q3 2018. EBIT was Rs 156.8 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 150 crore for the year ago quarter. Please refer to the figure below for the segment’s financial trends

    Airtel has reported increase in its Digital TV subscribers. As mentioned above Airtel Digital TV services subscriber base at the end of Q3 2019 stood at 1.5 crore, up 7.6 per cent y-o-y from 1.3937 crore in Q3 2018, and up 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) from 1.4779 crore in Q2 2019. Subscriber churn per month in the quarter was same as the previous quarter at 1.3 per cent. In the year ago quarter Q3 2018, subscriber churn was 1.2 per cent. Please refer to the figure below for Airtel Digital TV subscriber trends.

    Average revenue per user for the quarter under review was down by Rs 2 in Q3 2019 at Rs 231 as compared to Rs 233 in Q3 2018 and down by Re 1 as compared to the Rs 232 for the immediate trailing quarter. Please refer to the figure below for Airtel Digital TV ARPU trends.

    Bharti Airtel numbers

    Airtel’s consolidated revenues for Q3 2019 at Rs 20,519 crore grew 1.9 per cent y-o-y (reported increase of 1.0 per cent) on an underlying basis- adjusted for international termination rate reduction.

    India revenues for Q3 2019 at Rs 14,768 crore have declined by 2.3 per cent y-o-y (declined 3.5 per cent on reported) on an underlying basis. Mobile revenues have witnessed a y-o-y de-growth of 4.0 per cent on an underlying basis primarily on account of the sustained pricing pressure in India Mobile segment.

    In a statement, Airtel MD and CEO of India and South Asia Gopal Vittal, MD said, “Our simplified product portfolio and premium content partnerships have played out well during the quarter, translating into one of our highest ever 4G customers additions of 11 million plus. Our mobile data volume continues to expand, with a y-o-y growth of 190 per cent. We have deployed 24K broadband sites during the quarter and remain committed to invest in capacities ahead of the demand curve and provide a superior customer experience. Effective this quarter, we have modified our customer base measurement to represent only transacting and revenue generating customers. “

    In a statement, Airtel’s MD and CEO for Africa’s Raghunath Mandavasaid,
    “Airtel Africa’s Gross Revenue grew by 11.2 per cent on a y-o-y basis. Data traffic grew by 61 per cent, voice minutes increased by 25 per cent and Airtel Money throughput grew by 29 per cent on a y-o-y basis. Consequently, EBITDA margin has expanded by 1.7 per cent y-o-y and stood at 37.2 per cent for the quarter. We continue to further invest in strong LTE network to enhance customer experience and build a competitive advantage.”