Despite the entry of contender Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel Ltd has had a substantial rise in its revenue market share in the country’s top five circles, data issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India indicated on Monday. Airtel’s revenue growth has increased in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai within the range of 2 and 6% points and faced a slight dip in its leadership in the Maharashtra market since the September quarter of 2012-13. Together, the six circles account for 46% of the sector’s revenue.
Airtel had reported a rise of 155 basis points (one bps is one-hundredth of a percentage point), while Idea and Vodafone grew by 40 and 30 basis points each. The development gives the New-Delhi-based market leader, promoted by Sunil Bharti Mittal, an edge against the Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Mint reported.
Airtel even led the competition in areas where revenue growth was relatively low for operators. The data indicates that the rise has had a negative impact on smaller firms including, Aircel. Airtel’s incremental revenues have shot up from 32% during March 2014 to 66% in the second half 2016-17.
Jio has been at odds with the Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India since its commercial launch in September. The company has complained that its competitors have not been providing the required interconnections, causing a large number of call drops.
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