Jio and Airtel’s wireless subscriber growth and state-owned telecommunications company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and country’s third-largest private telco Vodafone Idea (Vi) month-on-month subscriber declines are nothing new. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s new monthly report also maintained that trend.
According to data provided by TRAI, in December 2023, BSNL lost 0.15 million (1.5 lakh) wireless subscribers, taking the company’s total subscriber base to 91.77 million, while MTNL lost 4,420 wireless subscribers to 1 .93 million (19.3 lakh) has come down. And Vodafone Idea lost 1.36 million subscribers, taking its overall wireless subscriber base to 223.04 million.
Meanwhile, Airtel and Jio added 1.85 million (18.5 lakh) and 3.99 million (39.9 million) wireless subscribers respectively in December. As a result, the total number of subscribers of the two telcos reached 381.73 million and 459.81 million respectively.
Again, Airtel and Jio had 98.90 percent and 92.32 percent active subscribers as of December 2023 respectively. And, Vodafone Idea, BSNL and NTML had 88.18 per cent, 52.90 per cent and 25.98 per cent active subscribers respectively.
In terms of rural subscriber base, TRAI’s report said that during this period, Jio added 202.59 million, Airtel 185.15 million, Vodafone Idea 108.54 million and BSNL 28.71 million rural wireless subscribers.
