Even though Reliance Jio added more subscriber additions during the quarter, Bharti Airtel gained 83 basis points sequentially in AGR market share to touch 36.3%, while adding more incremental subscribers.

“The benefit of premiumization has been limited while subscriber growth has returned post SIM consolidation. The Q2FY23 annualized revenue stood at ₹2.17 trillion and AGR was ₹1.9 trillion for FY22. Industry gross revenue was up 3.1% on-quarter and 21% on-year to ₹61,600 crore,” the ICICI Securities report said.

Airtel grew faster in metros and A circles, while Reliance Jio benefitted from higher post-paid subscriber addition and better monetization of data usage. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea’s AGR market share fell 20bps to 17.5% on underperformance in leadership circles.

Airtel’s AGR increased 4% sequentially and 17.7% year-on-year to ₹19,700 crore, rising 41bps on-year, with its incremental AGR on-quarter at ₹760 crore versus ₹660 crore for Reliance Jio. The circle-wise analysis shows Airtel grew significantly faster in metros at 10% on-quarter and 5.7% in A circles, even as B and C circles grew slower at 2.6% and 2% on-quarter, respectively.

UP East, UP West, Bihar and MP circles under-performed for Airtel, ICICI Securities said. It highlighted that Airtel’s gross revenue-based market share of 38% was equal to Jio’s, even when there’s a gap of 510bps between their AGR market shares in favour of Jio.

Vodafone Idea’s AGR-based market share fell to 17.5%, down 20bps on-quarter but increased 9.7% on-year to ₹9,500 crore.

“Growth in leadership circles was slower at 0.9% on-quarter due to dip in on-quarter revenue in UP east (down 11.2%), MP (down 3.6%) and Maharashtra (down 0.6%),” analysts at the firm said. Growth in established circles was relatively faster at 3.2% on-quarter while that in others increased by 2.9%, analysts added.

In comparison, Jio’s AGR rose 3% on-quarter or 20.1% on-year to ₹22,500 crore, leading to a market share of 41.4%, up 56bps on-quarter.

“AGR growth has been relatively higher in metros at 3.3% on-quarter and A circles at 4.4% on-quarter; however, they have grown significantly slower compared to Bharti in the same circles. B and C circles AGR rose at 2.3% and 2.6%, respectively,” analysts said.

In circle-wise analysis, Reliance Jio lost market share in eight circles and under-performed in a few circles, namely Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and MP. It also showed significant pick-up in AGR in the Karnataka circle, which has been a stronghold of Airtel, up 10.4% on-quarter and 36.9% on-year.

Reliance Jio’s market share based on gross revenue has been close to 38% for the past five quarters, while Bharti has gained under the same parameter.