Telecom industry focus: July tariff-hike boosts industry AGR in Q2, full impact likely in next 1-3 quarters

The telecom industry reported AGR growth of 7.1 per cent on-quarter and 13.1 per cent on-year during the fiscal second quarter to Rs 681 billion, showed data released by TRAI. The growth, stated an analysis report by JM Financial, was led by 15-17 per cent tariff hike undertaken by private telcos with effect from July 2024 and aided by one more day during the quarter and telcos’ continued premiumisation efforts including a) MBB (mobile broad-band) upgrades; b) prepaid-to-postpaid upgrades; c) data monetisation; and d) international roaming. However, it added, growth was offset by subscriber churn (of 16.8 million in Q2FY25) primarily due to temporary SIM consolidation in the lower ARPU segment post tariff hike.