India telecom operator Idea Cellular recently revealed its performance in the 3G and 4G markets during the June quarter in 2017.

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Data user base

Idea Cellular’s average revenue per User (ARPU) blended fell to INR 141 in Q1 fiscal 2018 from INR 142 in Q4 fiscal 2017. Average voice revenue per user (Voice ARPU) dropped to INR 108 from INR 107.

Idea Cellular said its data subscriber base on 2G, 3G and 4G networks fell to 38.122 million from 42.233 million.

Data volume on 2G, 3G and4G networks increased to 252,822 million MB from 127,014 million MB.

Data ARPU for 2G, 3G and4G data subscribers increased to INR 119 from INR 110.

Data usage by 2G, 3G and 4G data subscribers increased to 2,204 MB from 957 MB.

Idea Cellular said 3G data volume reached 161,179 million MB from 85,549 million MB.

4G data volume of Idea Cellular increased to 67,626 million MB from 18,674 million MB.

3G data subscribers decreased to 19.881 million from 21,614 million.

4G data subscribers increased to 6.476 million from 3.069 million.

Data ARPU for broadband subscribers was INR 130 against INR 138.

Idea and digital services

2 million customers have installed the Idea Music Lounge app that offers library of nearly 3 million Indian and international music tracks.

More than 1.5 million customers have installed the Idea Movie Club app.

Over 680,000 customers have installed Idea Game Spark app.

Investment

Idea Cellular’s 2G cell sites decreased to 131,059 in Q1 fiscal 2018 from 131,486 in Q4 fiscal 2017 – indicating that the mobile operator started focusing more on mobile Internet business to reap gains from demand for high speed data connections.

The number of 3G cell sites of Idea Cellular increased to 70,810 from 69,202. On the other hand, the number of 4G cell sites rose to 46,576 from 40,852 – showing the demand for 4G connections across the country.

Data volume on 2G, 3G and 4G Idea Cellular increased to 252,822 million MB from 127,014 million MB.

Idea 3G services have expanded on its own spectrum to (excluding 3G ICR) to 4,304 towns and 89,172 villages in 15 service areas covering 422 million Indians, representing 47.1 percent of population in these 15 service areas.

The Aditya Group company owns 17 carriers (15 on 2100 MHz and 2 on 900 MHz), to offer 3G services in 15 service areas. These 15 service areas cover ~86 percent of its revenue, ~85 percent of its subscribers and ~69 percent of national mobile industry revenue.

Idea Cellular said 4G is available in 4,113 towns and 42,566 villages across 20 telecom circles, covering 353 million Indians, representing 30.2 percent of population in these 20 circles.

The company holds 57 4G carriers (across 20 service areas) against 12 carrier before October 2016 auction. The 4G spectrum profile of the company covers ~94 percent of its own revenue and ~90 percent of industry revenue in these 20 service areas.

Idea’s wireless broadband network (3G+4G) now covers 524 million Indians across all 22 service areas in ~106,000 towns and villages.

Idea also increased its Fibre network by nearly 53,000 km (95,100 km in Q1FY16 to 148,100 km in Q1FY18).

The Capex spend for the quarter was Rs 11.7 billion. The Capex guidance for FY18 stands at Rs 60 billion.