In less than three years, Mukesh Ambani-helmed Reliance Jio Infocomm has become the leading telecom operator by revenue market share (RMS) in the April-June quarter. Bharti Airtel has outpaced Vodafone Idea to make it to the second spot amid fierce competition between the three companies. Reliance Jio reached an RMS of 31.7 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel at 30 per cent and Vodafone Idea at 28.1 per cent.
In the June quarter, Reliance Jio reported a sequential growth of 15 basis points (bps), while Bharti Airtel saw a significant growth of 277 bps, as shown in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data. Vodafone Idea reported a plunge of 403 bps. It lost market share in 19 out of the 22 circles.
Vodafone Idea lost revenue share even in circles where it was leading such as Kerala, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. These circles contribute around 28 per cent to the company's revenues.
Reliance Jio reported 9 per cent on-quarter growth in their adjusted gross revenue, including NLD service revenue in the June quarter, while Airtel reported 19.5 per cent. Their adjusted gross revenue in the same quarter was at Rs 10,900 crore and Rs 10,300 crore, respectively. Vodafone Idea reported 5.1 per cent sequential fall in their quarterly AGR at Rs 9,600 crore as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times.
After Reliance Jio's entry, both Airtel and Vodafone Idea have been steadily losing ground over the years. With the competition being so close between the top two, Reliance Jio and Airtel are likely to engage in a fierce battle in the coming quarters.
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