NEW DELHI: India’s largest cellular operator, Bharti Airtel has overtaken Hutchison Essar (now Vodafone-Essar) with regard to its average revenue per user (ARPU). As per the latest data by the Cellular Operators Association of India, Bharti had an ARPU of Rs 343.17 per month for the quarter ended December 2006, ahead of Hutchison Essar’s Rs 340.15 per month.
HEL, India’s fourth largest telecom company, had the largest ARPUs amongst private operators until Q3 of the current fiscal. However, the company’s ARPU fell by over 9% in the quarter ended December 2006, from Rs 373.99 in September 2006 while Bharti witnessed only a 1.5% fall in its average revenues during the same period. Bharti had an ARPU of Rs 348.56 in September 2006.
More importantly, COAI’s data also reveals that ARPUs of Indian mobile companies, which are already the lowest in the world, is continuing to head further south, even as companies are registering a significant increase in their overall revenues.
Read more at Economic Times
