Airtel posted excellent volume growth delivery on India wireless voice front (+10.8% yoy, the highest in 18 quarters). Voice traffic grew 6% qoq and 10.8% yoy to 308 bn minutes, well ahead of market growth of 6-7%. Voice RPM declined 1.5% qoq and 8.2% yoy to 33.3 paise/min. On a yoy basis, adjusted (for IUC rate cuts) voice RPM decline would have been around 5%.
On the data front, Bharti reported data revenue and volume growth of 44.7% and 69.4% yoy respectively. While data volumes were strong, average realization at 22.9 paise/MB disappointed, leading to lower-than-expected growth in overall data revenue. Perhaps reflecting benefits of being the first mover on 4G launches.
