Services revenue of telcos fell by 15 % in Jan- March quarter

There is no doubt Reliance Jio has shaken the whole telecom industry and now telecom regulator, Telecom Regulator Authority of India (TRAI) says that the revenue of operators from services dipped by about 15 percent to Rs. 40, 831 crores in January- March quarter this year.

The revenue was Rs. 48,379 crore last year in the same period, according to the TRAI's performance indicator report for the quarter ended (QE)March.

The year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in GR (gross revenue) and AGR (adjusted gross revenue) over the same quarter in last year has been (-) 7.35 percent and (-) 15.60 percent respectively, the report added.

The report further added that the License Fee has also declined from Rs. 3,698 Crore for the QE Dec-16 to Rs 3,361 Crore for the QE Mar-17.

While, the quarterly and the year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth rates of license fee are -9.09 percent and -13.19 percent respectively in this quarter.

The revenue from access services, which are part of AGR and earned by retailing to subscribers like mobile phone and landline services, declined by 20.79 percent to Rs 31,594.91 crores during the quarter from Rs 39,885.55 crore in the same period a year ago.

Access services contributed 77.38 percent of the total AGR of telecom services in the reported quarter.

The government's earning from the sector depends on the AGR of telecom companies.

The license fee and spectrum usage charges also declined in the reported quarter, which is important for government earnings.