Idea to launch VoLTE in March, inks 4G ICR agreement with Vodafone

Telecom operators Idea Cellular and Vodafone India have expanded their ICR with higher coverage under 2G ICR arrangements and introduced 4G ICR arrangements, during the third quarter to avoid duplication of spends and make best use of capex. This has been done in addition to Active Infrastructure sharing arrangements that the telcos have.

The expansion of ICR resulted in expanded coverage across over 12500 new towns and neighboring villages where one of the operators was not previously present, Idea said in its financial report.

Furthermore, Idea in its report said that it is on course to introduce its own VoLTE (Voice over LTE) from March 2018 onwards in main markets. The telco said that almost all of its incremental network capital investment is allocated towards 4G expansion.

Idea stated that it has added 96020 broadband (3G+4G)sites in the period of last four years where it multiplied its broadband sites by 3 times and the overall broadband sites now stands at 143565.

Idea Cellular’s data Average Revenue per User (ARPU) has fallen to Rs 95 in Q3 from Rs 105 in the previous quarter even as the company witnessed surge in data usage to around 4.7 GB per user from 3.8 GB usage per user in Q2.

The company’s overall ARPU also decreased to Rs 114 in Q3 from Rs 132 in Q2 where its voice ARPU also declined to Rs 86 from Rs 101 in the previous quarter. The company’s reported ARPU levels for Q3 are the lowest in comparison to previous four quarters.

The telco’s data subscribers including 2G, 3G and 4G users stood at 42,607 in the third quarter where in the previous quarter it stood at 38,195.

The company on Wednesday posted its straight fifth quarter loss, hit by fierce competition in a seasonally weak quarter as India’s Number 3 telco reeled under the impact of slashed interconnect user charges (IUC).