Telecom sector revenues back at pre-Jio levels

Revenues of India’s telecom sector have rebounded to levels seen in the years prior to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd’s foray into September 2016 that led to widespread disruptions with nearly-free voice and data offers, forcing others to drastically cut prices.

According to data issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), net mobile revenues rose 4.5% sequentially to $25 billion in the December quarter. The last time the sector earned $25 billion was in the June quarter of calendar year 2016.

Telecom sector revenues fell to the lowest of $18 billion in the fiscal year 2018-19, forcing some to exit their businesses and others to merge with bigger companies. For instance, Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd completed their merger in August 2018 to continue their operations amid mounting debt and shrinking revenues.