Idea Cellular Loss Widens to Rs 1280 Crore in Q3 FY18

Idea’s loss during the quarter widened to Rs 1284.5 crore in Q3 FY18. This was three times the amount of loss recorded in Q3 FY17. In the corresponding period of FY17, Idea’s net loss amounted to Rs 383.9 crore. Consolidated revenue earned by the company during the quarter amounted to Rs 6510 crore. However total costs also increased to Rs 8620 crore in the quarter ending December 31, 2017.

Idea Cellular attributed this loss to the cut of IUC charges levied by TRAI. The telecom regulator had cut interconnect usage charges to 6 paisa per minute from the earlier 14 paisa. The company claimed that its overall subscriber base crossed the 20-crore milestone on December 31. Its customer count stood at 20.3 crore at the end of December. However, ARPU still suffered due to consumers migrating to unlimited voice bundled data plans, which the company said has resulted in 12.8 percent decline in Idea’s gross revenue in the quarter.

However, Idea was hopeful for the coming quarters as new competitive dynamics unfolding should have a positive effect. The company said that users were now consolidating their usage to single operators and casual mobile customers started adopting attractive high bundled plans.