Reliance Jio’s Sharp Subscriber Growth To Continue Even As Revenue Per User May Shrink Below Airtel

Reliance Jio Infocomm's average revenue per user (ARPU) is likely to fall below that of its primary competitor Bharti Airtel's for the first time, reports Economic Times.

According to the report, Jio's ARPU for the April - June quarter may drop to Rs 124, less than Airtel's Rs 127. Jio's ARPU has been on a downward trend for the past six quarters, with the Jio VoLTE feature phone reportedly the reason.

The decline is mostly attributed to the additions of users generating monthly ARPU of Rs 99. “Jio’s ARPU will decline 2 per cent sequentially to Rs 124 due to a mix change,” estimated Axis Capital. From a peak of Rs 156 in the July - September quarter of FY 2018, Jio's APRU has declined steadily to Rs 126 over the past six months.

However, Jio is expected to notch up strong net subscribers with Axis Bank and HSBC estimating additions of 25 million and 23 million respectively. The strong numbers however, are lower than the increase of 27 million subscribers in the March quarter.