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<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>Mumbai: Spectrum usage charge (SUC) collections for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plunged over 42% sequentially to Rs 811 crore in the December quarter, FY23, after the government stopped charging this statutory fee on airwaves acquired from last year’s 5G auctions<\/a>, and onwards.

The government’s licence fee collections, though, rose 2.24% on-quarter to Rs 5, 031 crore in the October-December period, the latest operator performance data put out by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (
Trai<\/a>) Wednesday said.

Telcos pay license fees and SUC to the government as a percentage of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) which grew 1.49% sequentially in the fiscal third quarter to Rs 62,904 crore, indicating a tapering of the gains from the tariff hikes taken by private carriers in November 2021.

Quarterly SUC takings plunged as the DoT, in late-June 2022, scrapped the 3% floor earlier applicable on this levy. Further, after it decided not to charge SUC from last July’s 5G airwave auction onwards, telco payouts towards this fee reduced to under 1% of AGR from around 3-4% earlier. Telcos continue to pay 8% of their AGR as licence fees to the government.

Operator performance data put out by Trai showed that second ranked
Bharti Airtel<\/a> notched up the fastest sequential AGR growth in the December quarter among the three private carriers, outpacing market leader Reliance Jio<\/a> while Vodafone Idea<\/a> reported a fall.

Airtel’s quarterly AGR, or revenue from licensed services, grew 2.22% sequentially to Rs 18, 290.13 crore in the October-December 2023 period, while Jio’s rose 1.78% to Rs 22, 586.32 crore.

Loss-making Vi’s AGR fell 2.01% at Rs 7, 328.74 crore as compared to Rs 7,478.73 crore in the quarter before, signifying the cash strapped telco’s continued struggle to compete effectively with peers amidst fundraise woes.

\"Airtel’s<\/a><\/figure>

Airtel’s strong capex may harm Vodafone Idea’s market share going forward: Report<\/a><\/h2>

Airtel’s mobile service capex remained elevated at Rs 66 billion during 4QFY23, a 2.6x increase year-over-year, while Vodafone Idea’s capex declined 50% year-over-year to Rs 5.6 billion in 4QFY23 as the third-ranked telco likely prioritised vendor\/bank payments in the fourth quarter, as per the brokerage firm.<\/p><\/div>

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<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>Mumbai: Spectrum usage charge (SUC) collections for the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plunged over 42% sequentially to Rs 811 crore in the December quarter, FY23, after the government stopped charging this statutory fee on airwaves acquired from last year’s 5G auctions<\/a>, and onwards.

The government’s licence fee collections, though, rose 2.24% on-quarter to Rs 5, 031 crore in the October-December period, the latest operator performance data put out by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (
Trai<\/a>) Wednesday said.

Telcos pay license fees and SUC to the government as a percentage of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) which grew 1.49% sequentially in the fiscal third quarter to Rs 62,904 crore, indicating a tapering of the gains from the tariff hikes taken by private carriers in November 2021.

Quarterly SUC takings plunged as the DoT, in late-June 2022, scrapped the 3% floor earlier applicable on this levy. Further, after it decided not to charge SUC from last July’s 5G airwave auction onwards, telco payouts towards this fee reduced to under 1% of AGR from around 3-4% earlier. Telcos continue to pay 8% of their AGR as licence fees to the government.

Operator performance data put out by Trai showed that second ranked
Bharti Airtel<\/a> notched up the fastest sequential AGR growth in the December quarter among the three private carriers, outpacing market leader Reliance Jio<\/a> while Vodafone Idea<\/a> reported a fall.

Airtel’s quarterly AGR, or revenue from licensed services, grew 2.22% sequentially to Rs 18, 290.13 crore in the October-December 2023 period, while Jio’s rose 1.78% to Rs 22, 586.32 crore.

Loss-making Vi’s AGR fell 2.01% at Rs 7, 328.74 crore as compared to Rs 7,478.73 crore in the quarter before, signifying the cash strapped telco’s continued struggle to compete effectively with peers amidst fundraise woes.

\"Airtel’s<\/a><\/figure>

Airtel’s strong capex may harm Vodafone Idea’s market share going forward: Report<\/a><\/h2>

Airtel’s mobile service capex remained elevated at Rs 66 billion during 4QFY23, a 2.6x increase year-over-year, while Vodafone Idea’s capex declined 50% year-over-year to Rs 5.6 billion in 4QFY23 as the third-ranked telco likely prioritised vendor\/bank payments in the fourth quarter, as per the brokerage firm.<\/p><\/div>