Telecom service providers recorded annual increase of 10.46 per cent in gross revenue at Rs58,385 crore in the October-December quarter, as per a report by telecom regulator Trai.
Gross revenue, as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, in same period of 2012 was Rs52,858.39 crore.
The adjusted gross revenue (AGR), on which telecom operators are charged licence fee and other Government levies, increased by 14.62 per cent to Rs39,575 crore, from Rs34,527.5 crore mainly due to increase spending by consumers.
AGR is derived after deducting certain items from gross revenue like income from real estate and other sources which are not earned from telecom services.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) earned by telecom firms increased by 16.87 per cent to Rs115.7 during the quarter, from Rs99 a year ago.
While a year ago the revenues of telecom companies were declining, the latest data shows the revenue of service providers are now moving up.
The growth was seen even on quarterly basis. “There has been an increase of 1.62 per cent in GR and 1.97 per cent in AGR as compared to previous quarter. The year-on-year growth in GR and AGR over the same quarter in last year has been 10.46 per cent and 14.62 per cent respectively,” Trai said.
Revenue from telecom access services like mobile phone calls, broadband and others provided to end consumers contributed 78.21 per cent to the total AGR. Bharti Airtel was highest contributor among access providers in total AGR with Rs9,009.6 crore, followed by Vodafone with Rs6,609.9 crore, Idea Rs4,857.83, BSNl Rs3,279.38 crore, Tata Teleservices Rs2,291.72 crore, Reliance Communications Rs2,208.66 crore and Aircel Rs1,635.18 crore.