IGI Logo

Bharti’s execution impressive; VIL shows sign of stability

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its monthly data on subscribers (subs) for Jan’21. Industry-active subs rose 3.3mn with Bharti Airtel (Bharti) net add strong at 6.9mn subs; Reliance Jio (RJio) lost 3.4mns subs which explains its renewed aggression to push JioPhone. Vodafone fared well with subs dip of only 0.3mn. Mobile broadband (MBB) subs addition stood at 9.8mn with highest addition again for Bharti at 5.5mn. Bharti’s MBB subs market share rose 70bps to 28% on active basis, while RJio’s dipped 90bps to 50.1%. In the past 12 months, Bharti’s subs addition has outpaced RJio in active and MBB. Industry-active subs rose 3.3mn

* Industry-active subs base expanded 3.3mn to 979mn (up 0.3% MoM and dip 0.8% YoY), which was helped by very strong total subs addition of 9.6mn or 0.8% MoM.

* RJio’s active subs dipped 3.4mn to 325mn in Jan’21. Its subs decline was due to 120bps dip in active subs as % (of total base) to 79% in Jan’20 vs 80.2% in Dec’20. Total subs addition was muted at 2mn to 411mn.

* Bharti’s active subs rose 6.9mn to 336mn, most of which was driven by total subs net adds, thus, indicating the improving quality of subs addition.

* VIL’s active subs decline has significantly decelerated; it fell only 0.3mn (vs average 3.4mn in the past 12 months), resulting in an active subs base of 256mn in Jan’21. Total subs base has started growing with net add of 1.7mn.

* RJio’s active subs market share dipped 50bps to 33.2% MoM, while Bharti’s stood at 34.3% (up 60bps MoM) and VIL’s dipped 10bps MoM to 26.2%. Bharti is widening its lead in VLR subs market share against RJio.

* In the past 12 months, RJio has added active subs of 14.8mn; this compared to Bharti’s net subs add on VLR and mobile broadband was 22.8mn and 39.4mn, respectively. For RJio, active subs and mobile broadband subs (active) are same.

Industry MBB (mobile broadband) subs rose 9.8mn led by strong growth for Bharti

* Industry-wide MBB subs rose 9.8mn to 734mn in Jan’21. The growth was led by continued strong net add for Bharti at 5.5mn.

* RJio’s MBB subs base grew only 2mn to 411mn. Adjusted for inactive subs, its MBB market share stood at 50.1% (down 90bps MoM) while Bharti’s was 28.0% (up 70bps MoM) and VIL’s 18.9% (up 20bps MoM).

* VIL’s MBB subs rose 1.9mn, which continues to remain slow paced, to 123mn.

RJio’s wired broadband subs was steady at 0.18mn to 2.3mn

* Wired broadband subs net add came in at 0.38mn MoM to 22.7mn (1.7% MoM and 18.8% YoY growth) in Jan’21.

* RJio’s market share improved to 9.9% (up 60bps MoM), and net add stood at 0.18mn. Bharti’s net add is slowly inching up at 0.09mn, and market share improved marginally to 12.8% (up 20bps MoM). Others (local service providers) continued to lead net add at 0.11mn in Jan’21.

Industry MNP churn rate dipped slightly to 0.7%

* Industry porting dipped to 7.6mn, down 7.1% MoM in Jan’21. MNP churn rate dipped to 0.66% (vs 0.71% in Dec’20)

To Read Complete Report & Disclaimer Click Here

For More ICICI Securities Disclaimer https://www.icicisecurities.com/AboutUs.aspx?About=7

Above views are of the author and not of the website kindly read disclaimer