NE BUSINESS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, SPET 4
Fifth September is being celebrated for many reasons, including Teachers’ Day, International Day of Charity and few also remember this date for Chatur challenging Rancho in the movie ‘3 Idiots’ on this date. Apart from these, 5th September is also being remembered for the beginning of the data revolution. Yes, Reliance Jio was launched on that day in 2016.
With the launch of Jio, the past four years has changed the life and lifestyle of every citizen of India, including Gujarat. People now do not bother for expensive mobile bills and do not have limited access to data.
In the case of Gujarat, the monthly bills used to be over Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 wherein voice services used to contribute more than 70%. Post-launch of Jio, the monthly expenditure on the mobile bill has now drastically fallen to less than Rs 250 in which voice services are now negligible.
After Jio launched its services in Gujarat, the operator posted negative revenues for a couple of quarters. But slowly and gradually, due to better and affordable services, the revenue of Jio increased to Rs 920 crore.
Now, almost every second penny earned by the telecom industry, earned by Jio in Gujarat. The operator is not only a revenue market leader but also enjoys a 49% revenue market share among four telecom operators.
As per financial reports of the telecom industry issued by telecom regulatory, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), only Jio posted growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) in Gujarat in the quarter ended on June 30, 2020, compared with the quarter ended on March 31, 2020. The report says that the AGR or revenue of all telcos fell by 5% to Rs 1,880 crore.
During the period, the revenue of Jio increased by 16% to Rs 920 crore in June 2020 quarter. Airtel and Vodafone Idea witnessed a fall of 7.5% and 25% in the revenue during the period in Gujarat. Airtel’s revenue was Rs271 crore while Vodafone Idea posted Rs 587.52 crore of revenue in the quarter ended on June 30, 2020, in Gujarat.
Trai reports didn’t mention BSNL financials. But the report reveals that Jio’s share in revenue is 49% followed by Vodafone Idea with 32% and Airtel with 14%.