Vi loses 2 million subscribers, Jio & Airtel gain roughly a million each

India’s two largest telecom operators added roughly a million subscribers each in February, even as their distant third peer lost a little over two million users, according to the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Still, nearly a fifth of India’s 1,142 million mobile phone users are holding onto Vodafone Idea.

As of Feb. 28, the joint venture of Vodafone Group Plc and Aditya Birla Group had a market share of 20.84%, while Jio and Airtel held 37.41% and 32.39%, respectively. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., and Reliance Communications Ltd. accounted for the rest.

In February, 11.17 million mobile phone users submitted requests for mobile number portability. A total of 808 million MNP requests have been registered since the implementation of mobile number portability.

Broadband Users
Despite the aggressive rollout of 5G services in India, the total number of broadband users remained flat at 839.33 million in February, with the top-five service providers accounting for 98.38% of the market.

With a user base of 427.18 million, Jio was the biggest mobile broadband operator, followed by Airtel at 233.74 million and Vodafone Idea at 123.74 million. About 21.38 million BSNL subscribers accessed high-speed internet on their mobile phones.

Interestingly, the number of WiFi connections in India declined in February. As of Feb. 28, the number of wired broadband subscribers stood at 32.82 million—0.86% lower than 33.11 million in January, the TRAI data showed.

With a user base of 8.02 million, Jio was the biggest wired broadband service provider, followed by BSNL (3.54 million), ACT Fibernet (2.14 million), and Hathway (1.13 million).

Other Key Highlights Of The TRAI February Report

• Total wireless subscribers fell 0.09% to 1,141.96 million.
• Urban wireless subscribers fell 0.12% to 626.37 million.
• Rural wireless subscriber bases fell 0.06% to 515.60 million.
• The wireless tele-density in India stood at 82.52%.
• 57.39% of rural India and 128.76% of urban India have phones.

Except for Assam, Mumbai, Delhi, Rajasthan, the northeast, Kolkata, and Tamil Nadu, all other service areas recorded declines in their wireless subscriber base during February.

For report, https://www.communicationstoday.co.in/trai-telecom-subscription-data-feb-2023/

Bloomberg