Jio tops wireless subscribers addition for 5th straight month in August

The country’s largest telecom operator by market share Reliance Jio has topped the wireless subscriber additions for the fifth straight month and even took a lead in the wireline segment, surpassing state-owned BSNL for the first time. In August, the telecom operator added 3.28 million new wireless subscribers on a net basis, compared to 0.33 million new users added by peer Bharti Airtel and loss of 1.98 million users lost by Vodafone Idea, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data.

In the wireline or fibre-based broadband subscribers, Reliance Jio added the highest 0.26 million subscribers that took its total base to 7.35 million, higher than 7.13 million user base of BSNL.

A growth in wireless user base, both for Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, indicate that the customer churn owing to SIM card consolidation has stopped. SIM card consolidation refers to reduction in mobile network connections by consumers owing to increase in tariffs. Further, it is also expected that both the telecom operators are also adding users migrating from the network of Vodafone Idea, which lost the subscribers for the 17th straight month.

Largely led by the increase in subscribers of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, the overall mobile subscriber base in the country rose by 1.08 million users to 1.149 billion in August.

As of August end, Reliance Jio has a wireless subscriber market share of 36.48%, up from 36.23% in July. With an increase in users, the company’s total wireless subscribers rose to 419.24 million. In comparison, Bharti Airtel’s market share was stable at 31.66% in August, whereas Vodafone Idea’s fell to 22.03% in August from 22.22% in the wireless subscribers segment.

The wireless subscribers base of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea was at 363.80 million and 253.14 million, respectively at the end of August. While Bharti Airtel added the subscribers for the tenth straight month, in August the company’s subscriber addition was the lowest in ten months.In the wireline segment, Bharti Airtel added 0.12 million subscribers, taking its total base to 6.2 million as of August end.State-owned BSNL lost wireless subscribers for the eight straight month. In August, the company lost 0.57 million wireless subscribers, taking its total base to 110.06 million. In the wireline segment, the company lost 15,734 subscribers during the month.

According to Trai, in the month of August, 11.35 million subscribers submitted their requests for mobile number portability (MNP). “With this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 724.79 million at the end of July 22 to 736.14 million at the end of August-22, since implementation of MNP,” the regulator said.

After falling consecutively for the two straight months, the total number of active mobile users in India rose by 264,882 in August. Of the total 1.149 billion wireless subscribers, 1.013 billion or 88.19% were active, according to the peak visitor location register, which shows the number of active subscribers, including those roaming on a mobile operator’s network.During the month, Bharti Airtel remains at top with the highest visitor location register subscribers among the telecom players at 98.31%, higher than 97.99% in July. The company has an active subscribers’ base of 357.66 million as of August end, higher than 356.18 million in July.

Also Read: Jio launches JioFiber Double Festival Bonanza offer: Plans, price, eligibility and more

Jio’s visitor location register fell marginally to 91.75% in August. In August, RJio’s active subscribers rose by 2.47 million to 384.65 million. Vodafone Idea’s active subscribers fell for the fifth straight month in August. The company’s active subscriber base fell by 2.63 million to 214.29 million in August.

The wireless broadband subscribers in the country rose by 5.65 million in August, taking the tally to 782.46 million. The wireless broadband users largely include those on the 4G network. Bharti Airtel added 1.72 million wireless broadband users in August, taking the total number to 218.85 million, whereas Vodafone Idea added 150,000 wireless broadband users in August, taking its subscribers base to 123.12 million.