NEW DELHI: Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) are likely to witness growth in their ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) in the third quarter of this fiscal.
According to a report by ICICI Securities, the ARPU of Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Ideal Limited (VIL) expected to be up by up 1.5%, 2%, 2% QoQ (Quarter-on-Quarter) to Rs 180, Rs 194 and Rs 134, respectively.
"ARPU growth is expected to be seen for all telcos with some subscriber mix benefit," reads the report.
In terms of revenue, Jio's revenue is expected to be up by 3% to Rs 23206 crore. Airtel's India wireless revenue is expected to be up 2.1% to Rs 19,359 crore and Vodafone Idea's revenue is to be flattish at Rs 10,620 crore in the third quarter this fiscal FY22-23.
Telecom operator Jio is to lead the subscriber addition with 6 million (mn) net sub additions during Q3. The second largest telco Airtel is likely to add modest 1 mn subscribers amid SIM consolidation. On the other hand, elevated churn at Vodafone Idea (VIL) is likely with a subscriber loss of 6 million.
The report also noted that telcos are expected to see residual benefits of lower SUC (Spectrum usage charges) emanating from their recent spectrum purchase, while network opex for Jio and Airtel will go up with 5G rollout.
Airtel India EBITDA margins are expected at 52.5%, up 70 bps QoQ, aided by residual benefit of lower SUC, despite higher network opex on 5G rollout.
For Jio, EBITDA margins are likely to be at 51.5%, up 50 bps QoQ and net profit at Rs. 4624 crore, up 2.3% QoQ.
For Vodafone Idea, the company is expected to post a net loss of Rs. 7557 crore.