India-based Vodafone Idea slipped further into the red in its fiscal Q3 (ending 31 December 2022) due to a jump in network-related expenses and additional subscriber losses.

Net loss increased to INR79.9 billion ($965.8 million) from INR72.3 billion in fiscal Q3 2021/22, attributed to a change in accounting standards which raised depreciation and amortisation expenses to INR58.9 billion and finance costs to INR62.8 billion.

Revenue increased 9.3 per cent to INR106.2 billion.

The operator shed nearly 20 million subscribers to close 2022 with 228.6 million.

It added 4.6 million LTE users for a total of 121.6 million. Prepaid numbers dropped and post-paid accounted for nearly 10 per cent its total, up from 8 per cent.

Blended ARPU grew 17.4 per cent to INR135, aided by tariff hikes and migration to unlimited plans.

Average data usage by 4G subscribers rose to 15.4GB from 14GB.

Debt of INR2.2 trillion comprised deferred spectrum payment obligations of INR1.4 trillion and AGR liability of INR699.1 billion due to the government, and bank loans of INR131.9 billion.

While the operator shut down about 2,800 3G sites during the quarter, it added more than 2,000 4G sites. Overall broadband sites totalled 443,450.