Jio widens revenue market share gap in Q4 after Airtel's catch-up phase

Synopsis
Jio outperformed Bharti Airtel in the March quarter, reclaiming its revenue market share lead. Jio's revenue grew across market segments. This growth was fueled by delayed benefits from tariff hikes. Airtel and Vodafone Idea experienced revenue dips. Jio's AGR increased significantly. Airtel also saw gains over the year. The top three carriers' combined AGR rose due to tariff adjustments.
Latest financial data collated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed Jio gained 40 basis points (bps) sequentially, boosting its RMS in the March quarter to 42.2% while Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea's RMS dipped 43 bps and 70 bps sequentially to 39.2% and 13.4%, respectively. A basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.
Bharti Airtel and Vi reported sequential RMS dips in the fourth quarter of 2024-25 as both companies had largely realised the full benefits of the tariff hike in the previous two quarters. The RMS or "adjusted gross revenue (AGR) market share" is a key performance metric for carriers measuring overall telecom market leadership.
As per Trai data, Bharti Airtel, despite gains in metros and rural markets, lost revenue in some urban circles (category A and B) while Vi lost revenue across its leadership and established circles as its customer losing streak continued. "As expected, Jio's Q4FY25 AGR market share has advanced as its AGR grew across categories and it also gained RMS in 17 circles," ICICI Securities said.
Over the past one year, Bharti Airtel has narrowed the RMS gap with Jio, amid an ongoing fierce battle for supremacy in the telecom industry, on the back of strong market execution and revenue gains in both urban and rural markets, according to analysts.
A circle-wise analysis of Trai data by ICICI Securities showed that in the March quarter, Bharti Airtel's AGR increased in the metros (20% quarter-on-quarter) and 'C' circles (+0.2% quarter-on-quarter) while it dipped in the 'A' circles (-1.9%) and 'B' circles (-0.4%). By contrast, Jio's AGR increased across categories - metros (6.9% quarter-on-quarter), A Circle (+2.6%), B (+3.2%) and C (+3.1%) quarter-on-quarter. Loss-making Vi's AGR, though, declined across its leadership and established circles by 3.4% and 4% quarter-on-quarter, respectively.
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