Telecom service provider,
Vodafone Idea's consolidated net loss narrowed on both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis for the quarter ending December 2020 (Q3FY21). The telco reported a consolidated net loss of Rs4,532.1cr in Q3FY21 against a loss of Rs6,438.8cr of December 2019 quarter and loss of Rs7,218.2cr of September 2020 quarter.
Consolidated gross revenue stood at Rs10,894.1cr in the quarter under review, sequentially up 1%, however, declined by 1.76% yoy.
The company's average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to Rs121 in Q3FY21 against Rs109 of the preceding quarter.
At the end of the quarter, Vodafone Idea's 4G subscriber base was 109.7 million (vs 106.1 million in Q2), an increase of 3.6 million the quarter. The data volumes grew by 3.4% QoQ, driven by higher 4G additions. Total minutes on the network declined by 1.5% during the quarter compared to a 4.0% decline in Q2FY21.
Vodafone Idea's total subscriber base stands at 269.8 million in Q3FY21, a QoQ decline of 2.0 million (vs 8.1 million declines in Q2FY21). The gross additions continued to improve and subscriber churn has reduced to 2.3% in Q3FY21 (vs2.6% in Q2FY21).
Vodafone Idea's stated that cost optimization underway with a target to achieve Rs. 40 billion annualized OPEX savings by December 2021; achieved ~50% of targeted OPEX efficiency on a run-rate basis.
Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited, said “In Q3FY21, we improved subscriber retention and operating performance, supported by Vi GIGAnet, which remains the fastest 4G network in India, as per Ookla as well the network with highest rated voice quality as per TRAI - a testimony to our superior network. We remain focused on executing our strategy, and our cost optimization plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings. The Board has approved funds raising to support our strategic intent and we are in active discussions with potential investors.”
The board approval received for fundraising of up to Rs250 billion through a mix of debt and equity is currently in active discussions with potential investors.
The company has a total of 1,846 MHz of spectrum across difference frequency bands out of which 1,723.6 MHz spectrum is liberalised and can be used towards deployment of any technology (2G,3G, 4G or 5G). Further, 1,316.8 MHz of spectrum acquired through an auction between the year 2014 and 2016 is having the validity until 2034 to 2036. Vodafone Idea said that this large spectrum portfolio across 22 circles allows the company to create enormous broadband capacity and ability to offer superior customer experience.
In management discussion, Vodafone Idea said, "We continue to invest in 4G to increase our coverage and capacity. We have also started to actively upgrade our 3G network to 4G. During the quarter, we added ~12,000 4G FDD sites primarily through refarming of 2G/3G spectrum to expand our 4G capacity. We continue to expand our LTE 900 in select locations, including through dynamic spectrum refarming, to improve customer experience. To date, we have deployed ~61,000 TDD sites in addition to the deployment of ~12,900 Massive MIMO sites and ~11,800 small cells."
At around 2.03 pm, Vodafone Idea was trading at Rs12.23 per piece down by 2.47% on Sensex. The stock has touched an intraday high and low of Rs12.90 per piece and Rs12.04 per piece respectively.