In a shocking turn of events, Vodafone-Idea, the newly merged telecom behemoth has beaten Jio in terms of revenues. How has this happened suddenly?
We will soon share the exact details.
Meanwhile, reports are coming in which states that Vodafone-Idea will shut down 2000 branded stores, and remove 16,000 distributors from their supply chain.
How will this impact Vodafone-Idea’s growth?
Vodafone-Idea Has Beaten Jio?
For the quarter between July to September, Vodafone-Idea has beaten Jio in terms of revenues: Only if we add total adjusted gross revenues (AGR) of access service licence and national long distance licence.
However, if we only consider AGR or Adjusted Gross Revenues, then Jio is still #1 in the country, for 2nd successive quarter. Vodafone is at #2 and Airtel at #3.
Here are the details of revenues posted by Vodafone-Idea, Airtel and Jio for the Q2, 2018 (July to September):
| Jio | Vodafone-Idea | Airtel | |
| Access Service | Rs 8271.26 crore | Rs 7528.35 crore | Rs 6720.2 crore |
| Access Service + NLD | Rs 8346.2 crore | Rs 10,478.44 crore | Rs 9882.93 crore |
Till 2016, Airtel used to top both Access Services and NLD revenues in the country, however since Jio came into the picture, the ranking has turned upside down.
It was in the month of January when Jio topped the charts for the first time, pipping Airtel to #2 and Vodafone to #3.
But with NLD added, it is a fight between Jio and Vodafone-Idea to secure #1 position.
In terms of subscribers, Jio is at #3 with 252.3 million users.
Vodafone-Idea is at #1 with 422 million subscribers and Airtel at #2 with 329 million subscribers.
Vodafone-Idea Will Remove 2000 Branded Outlets, Distributors
As part of cost-cutting drive, Vodafone-Idea has decided to reduce their offline supply chain drastically in the coming months.
As of now, there are 43,000 distributors of Vodafone-Idea, which will be now reduced by 16,000 and settled at 27,000, pan-India.
This is one of the largest reduction of distributors by any telco in recent month.
Besides, there are 6000 branded outlets of Vodafone-Idea, which will be reduced by 2000 to 4000.
And, the number of call centers will be also reduced: from 82 at present to 38 by end of this fiscal year.
Vodafone-Idea, at the time of merger, had a combined debt of Rs 1.2 lakh crore; and we have already reported that 5000 jobs will be sacrificed in coming days.
We will keep you updated as more details come in.