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Number crunch post Jio’s entry in 2016

The trail of dwindling revenues and losses had already started after 2016 for the surviving players post Mukesh Ambani owned Jio’s entry.

Vodafone Idea Ltd (Idea): In its 2017-18 annual report, the telco reported a decline of 20.2% in its total revenues over the previous year (FY17) on a consolidated basis. The EBITDA figure reflected a decrease of 39.3% year-on-year and the consolidated net loss stood at Rs 41,682 million vis-à-vis Rs 3,997 million for the previous year (FY17).

Airtel: During the same period (FY 17-18), Airtel recorded a 12.3% fall in its revenues over the last year (FY17) while net profit for the year declined by 48.5% year-on-year. The grim position that these numbers indicated had ostensibly been due to a combination of factors like TRAI’s slashing of IUC rates in September 2017, high spectrum costs in addition to the Jio effect. Further, falling subscriber counts continued as customers ported to Jio’s network which offered almost zero payment services. Of private operators, Vodafone Idea has seen the biggest subscribers' loss over the past year. The telco has lost almost 60 million subscribers between September 2018 and August 2019 while Airtel lost just 15.77 million with Jio gaining nearly 96 million in the same period.