Poor network, low speed plagues 92% of India mobile phone users

Bharti Airtel | CMP: Rs 705.60 | The stock price ended in the green on May 17. Bharti Airtel Ltd reported a 165 percent growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,008 crore in the fourth quarter of FY2021-22 (Q4FY22) as against Rs 759 crore profit logged in the year-ago period. On a sequential basis, the profit has inched up 142 percent from Rs 830 crore earned during the October–December period. Consolidated revenues for the second largest telecom company by subscriber base in India rose 22 percent on-year to Rs 31,500 crore as compared to a revenue of Rs 25,747 crore registered in the year-ago quarter. Consolidated revenues for FY22 jumped 16 percent to Rs 1,16,547 crore from the revenues of Rs 1,00,616 crore for last year.

More than nine out of 10 mobile phone users in India complained of poor wireless connectivity, while two-thirds struggle with disrupted digital payments on older 3G and 4G networks, according to a local survey.

About 48% of 8,210 consumers surveyed by LocalCircles mentioned frequent disruptions to their mobile services due to poor network availability and 44% were disgruntled with low data speeds. In another survey question that drew in 11,865 consumer responses, 66% said they experienced snags in at least one online transaction, forcing them to rely on alternate payment mechanisms such as cash, check or credit cards, according to a statement from LocalCircles.

The findings spotlight the yawning gap in services currently delivered by Indian telecom carriers despite tariff hikes in recent months. It also points to the need to step up quickly as companies prepare to bid for airwaves in a government-led auction that will pave the way for launch of ultra-speedy 5G services in India. Disrupted wireless services also threaten to hamper India’s drive to spur its digital economy -- a key policy initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that got a major boost amid the  Covid-19 pandemic when data consumption surged.

Competition in India’s telecom sector has whittled down from a dozen players a few years back to just three private sector operators after billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. disrupted the market in 2016 with free calls and cheap data, forcing rivals to quit or merge. While Reliance Jio blew other competitors out of the water, Vodafone Idea Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd.  managed to survive but were battered financially, leaving lesser headroom to spend on upgrade of telecom infrastructure.

The survey’s findings also highlight the need to invest more in infrastructure to not just boost telecom services but also digital payments. India did 35 billion digital transactions in 2021, according to LocalCircles, which said that this number could go up significantly if wireless network issues are fixed.