Telcos' revenues may slip 7pc post Jio offer and demonetisation: ICRA

Domestic rating agency ICRA recently said the extension of free services by RJio for three more months will aggravate pains for existing operators hit by demonetisation and lead to a revenue dip of up to 7 percent in the next two quarters.

Associate head for corporate ratings Harsh Jagnani said,

At a time when the industry is already facing pressures on the operating metrics owing to heightened competition, the extension of free services by RJio is expected to further push down the realisations in both the voice and data segments. The impact is expected to be exacerbated by demonetisation of the higher denomination currency, which can lead to revenue loss of the telcos, especially in the prepaid segment, he added.

Stating that the sector is already reeling under a Rs 4.25 trillion debt, it said RJio's extension has "added to the industry s woes" and coupled with the demonetisation exercise, will lead to a revenue dip of 5-7 percent.

Also read : [Updated] Jio to extend welcome offer till March 2017

Mukesh Ambani-led RJio, launched in September, extended the free services till March 2017, after announcing not to charge voice telephony at all (which is the revenue mainstay for entrenched operators) and depend only on the data for revenues. The government's surprise move to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8 has severely impacted consumption and led to a rash of growth estimate cuts by economists.

Also read : Jio to pull plug sooner than expected

ICRA said RJio's aim is to target high average revenue per user (ARPU) subscribers and feels that the industry would migrate from the revenue per minute (RPM) or the average revenue per megabyte (ARMB) approach to the ARPU-based approach.

The new entrant will also be helped by other factors like a big bang launch, a fresh network which will give better service and better device ecosystem.