Telcos' gross revenue seen at record high

THE GROSS REVENUE of telecom operators is expected to touch a record high of 3.4 trillion in the current financial year ending March, according to industry estimates.

- JATIN GROVER

A higher gross revenue will also benefit the government as it will receive higher licence fee from the telcos on revenue share basis. In fact, in FY24, the government is expecting the licence fee from telcos to improve to ₹22,000-23,000 crore from the 20,000 crore last financial year, officials said.

A year-on-year expected growth of 7% in the gross revenue of the four telecom operators, including stateowned BSNL, can be attributed to higher data consumption, increase in entry-level tariffs by telcos'-Airtel and Vodafone Idea growth in postpaid segment, and international roaming, among other things.

In FY23, the gross revenue of the four telecom operators was at nearly ₹3.18 trillion, according to financial statements of the companies. That was the first time the industry's revenue topped 3 trillion.