Vodafone Idea said it has narrowed the average-revenue-per-user gap with larger rivals such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, aided by premiumisation initiatives and strong traction in newly launched plans during the fourth quarter.
Speaking during the company's post-earnings conference call, Vodafone Idea management said the ARPU growth was primarily driven by customers upgrading to higher-value plans and increasing migration from prepaid to postpaid offerings.
"Few plans that were launched have seen strong traction during Q4," the management said during the concall, adding that the company continues to see meaningful improvement in customer monetisation.
The telecom operator also highlighted that customers are increasingly experiencing an upgraded network across the country as the company accelerates its 4G and 5G rollout. Vi's 5G services are now live in more than 80 cities, management said.
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Vodafone Idea further noted that there remains significant runway for ARPU growth, particularly as nearly 33% of its user base still uses feature phones instead of smartphones. The company said it is focused on upgrading these users to smartphones and higher-data consumption plans over time.
Management reiterated that premiumisation remains a key driver of revenue growth, with Q4 ARPU witnessing a significant rise on the back of improved customer mix and better plan adoption.
According to a Business Line report, the debt-laden Vodafone Idea reported a 22% year-on-year decline in net loss to Rs 5,521 crore for the quarter, excluding the one-time accounting gain of Rs 58,116 crore linked to the AGR reassessment and the impact of labour code-related adjustments.
The telecom operator's average revenue per user (ARPU) rose 6% annually and 1.1% sequentially to Rs 174, reflecting continued gains from premiumisation and higher-value customer additions.
Vi's subscriber base, however, declined by 5.4 million on a year-on-year basis and remained largely flat sequentially at 192.8 million users. Customer ARPU improved to Rs 190, marking an 8.5% increase compared with the year-ago period.
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