The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the telecom service providers rose 14.2% year-on-year to Rs 2.5 trillion in FY23, according to the yearly performance indicators report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
The growth can be attributed to upgrades by consumers, higher data consumption, traction for postpaid, and international roaming, which in a way increased revenues of telecom operators.
The calculations of AGR include the revenue generated by telecom operators by providing local calls and data services, international long-distance, and national long-distance services.
The AGR of internet service providers (ISPs) and others has also been considered in calculation of the amount.
AGR is the revenue based on which the telcos pay licence fee and spectrum usage charges (SUC) to the government.
Among the operators, Bharti Airtel’s AGR was up 21.9% year-on-year to Rs 71,825 crore in FY23, while Jio’s AGR rose 17.4% to Rs 89,279 crore.
Vodafone Idea reported an 11.6% increase in AGR to Rs 29,375 crore, whereas BSNL’s AGR was up 4.9% to Rs 8,177 crore.
The licence fee paid by the telecom operators to the government rose 13.2% year-on-year to Rs 19,954 crore in FY23, according to Trai data.
The spectrum usage charges paid by the telcos to the government fell 30% to Rs 4,968 crore.
SUC fell as the government had scrapped the 3% SUC for the future spectrum acquisitions, including 5G auctions which led to a fall in the overall SUC for telecom companies in the year.