Jio, Airtel Added More Subscribers Month-on-Month in September, Vi Saw Decline, TRAI Data Shows

India’s total mobile subscriber base fell by 3.6 million in September, with Vodafone Idea suffering a subscriber count decline even as larger rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel added users month-on-month, according to telecom regulator’s data. India’s largest mobile operator Jio further cemented its position in the market, adding 7,20,000 wireless subscribers during September, while Bharti Airtel increased its mobile users’ tally by 4,12,000.

Notably, while Jio led peers in September subscriber additions, its net adds this time was lower than the 32,81,000 subscribers the telco had gained in August.

Ailing Vodafone Idea faced a subscriber count decline (by 40,00,000), its base shrank to 24.91 crore during September.

“Total wireless subscribers decreased from 1,149.11 million at the end of August 22 to 1,145.45 million at the end of September 22, thereby registering a monthly decline rate of 0.32 percent,” Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said releasing subscription data for September.

Overall, the number of telephone subscribers number in India (mobile and fixed-line together) decreased to about 117.19 crore at the end of September 2022, translating to a monthly decline rate of 0.27 percent.

TRAI said the total broadband subscribers rose to 81.6 crore at the end of September 2022, with a monthly growth rate of 0.28 percent.

The top five service providers constituted 98.36 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of September 2022.

“These service providers were Reliance Jio (426.80 million), Bharti Airtel (225.09 million), Vodafone Idea (123.20 million), BSNL (25.62 million), and Atria Convergence (2.14 million),” TRAI said.

Back in August, Reliance Jio toppled state-run BSNL to become the largest fixed-line service provider in the country, according to a TRAI report. It was the first time since the beginning of telecom services in the country that a private operator had gained the top position in the wireline segment.