For Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, there is volume growth in the June quarter, but very different takeaways. Both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India have seen some recovery this Q1, showing a sequential growth in mobile services with revenues rising 0.75% and 0.67% respectively. This is a turnaround from revenue declines in the previous quarter as Jio was pushing free services to customers.
The companies continue to be under margin pressure due to Jio's extremely low-cost plans. But it is smaller firms like Idea Cellular that are under real stress. Idea reported a growth of 8.4% in voice minutes and doubling of data growth. But the company has still reported sharp losses this quarter.
Worse, the company's ROCE has turned negative - Idea Cellular's operating incomes cannot cover its capital costs. It is not well-placed to compete with the discounted plans Jio and now the other players are offering. With the merger process with Vodafone India moving at a glacial pace, Idea Cellular is going into the next quarter without a clear or effective gameplan.