Telcos revenue share from voice calls dropped by 80% over the past 10 years

Over the past 10 years, telecom operators have experienced a significant decline in revenue share from voice calls and SMS. This decline is primarily due to the increasing usage of internet-based calling and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Google Meet, according to a paper by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The paper highlights that telecom operators' revenue share from voice calls has dropped by around 80 per cent and from SMS by 94 per cent in the last decade. Meanwhile, the revenue share per user from data usage has grown more than 10 times between the June 2013 quarter and the December 2022 quarter.

TRAI states that this shift in revenue composition is a global trend driven by the growing usage of over-the-top (OTT) applications for messaging and voice communication. The paper focuses on regulating these OTT apps and discusses the possibility of bringing them under a licensing framework, which would require them to pay entry fees, share revenue, enable lawful interception, provide call data records, and comply with regulatory requirements.

The data presented in the paper shows that while the share of revenue from data has increased significantly to 85.1 per cent of the average revenue per user (ARPU) in the December 2022 quarter, other components of ARPU have declined. The revenue share from voice calls now accounts for only 10.1 per cent of ARPU, down from 58.6 per cent in the June 2013 quarter. Similarly, the revenue share from SMS has decreased to 20 per cent of ARPU, compared to 3.22 per cent in the past.

Trai acknowledges the potential impact of a complete internet shutdown and suggests that selective banning of specific OTT applications may be preferable to mitigate risks associated with terrorism or anti-national activities. This approach would allow critical services like education and healthcare to continue functioning while targeting applications that could be misused.