Reliance Jio, the new player in the telecom sector, saw a 3.76% rise in its adjusted gross revenues to Rs 9,838.9 crore for January-March 2019 compared to the previous quarter, according to data from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

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Reliance Jio maintained the top position in AGR for the March quarter, followed by Vodafone Idea, the largest telecom operator by subscriber base, with AGR of Rs 7,133.4 crore, which declined 1.25% in the March quarter compared to the December quarter. Bharti Airtel registered an 8% decline in its AGR at Rs 5,920.2 crore during the March quarter, according to Trai's - 'Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator' released on Wednesday.

However, quarter on quarter, AGR growth for Jio was lower than 14.6% registered in the December quarter.

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  • Vodafone Idea's AGR declined to 1.25% to Rs 7,133.4 crore in the March quarter over December quarter  
  • Bharti Airtel registered an 8% decline in its AGR at Rs 5,920.2 crore during the March quarter

The gross revenue (GR) and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the telecom service sector for the March 2019 quarter stood at Rs 58,414 crore and Rs 35,932 crore, respectively.

Gross revenues declined 0.98% and AGR fell 0.34% March quarter as compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the year-ago period, the GR and AGR this time was lower by 6.08% and 0.66% respectively, Trai said.

The licence fees declined marginally to Rs 2,888 crore in the March quarter, from Rs 2,890 crore in the December quarter. The government earns revenues from the licence fees and spectrum usage charges.

The monthly average revenue per user (Arpu) for wireless service improved by 1.80% to Rs 71.39 in the quarter ended March this year, against Rs 70.13 in the quarter ended December 2018.

Prepaid Arpu per month increased to Rs 63 in the quarter ended March, compared to Rs 60 in the quarter ended December 2018 while postpaid Arpu per month declined to Rs 261 from Rs 296 during the same period. Arpu is a key matrix for the profitability of telecom service providers.

The number of mobile subscribers in the country declined to 1,183.5 million at the end of March, a decline of 1.20% over the December quarter. The overall teledensity in India declined from 91.45 as of December 2018 to 90.11 as of March 2019, the Trai report said.