Jio, Airtel SG&A costs rise signals cut-throat competition for acquiring high-value customers

Kolkata: India’s top two telcos, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, have seen sequential increases in their respective selling, general and administrative (SG&A) costs in the fiscal first quarter, suggesting a continuing phase of intense competition for acquiring and retaining high-value customers, said analysts. More so, amid some SIM consolidation after the recent tariff hikes, they added.

Loss-making Vodafone Idea (Vi), by contrast, has seen a sequential dip in its SG&A spends in the June quarter, which according to analysts, is since the telco is using the cash recently raised to initially improve its 4G coverage quality to rein in customer losses.