Reliance Jio Adds The Most Customers In April But Not All Are Active
Reliance Jio’s active subscriber base is well below the industry average.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. may have added more subscribers than other telecom operators in April but data shows that the number of its active subscribers is way below the industry standard.
The Mukesh Ambani-backed operator added 38.7 lakh subscribers in April, its first month of paid services, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The newest operator's net subscriber additions were the most in the telecom industry followed by Bharti Airtel Ltd., which added 28.5 lakh, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., that added 8.1 lakh customers.
However, only 71.1 percent of Jio's subscribers were active, TRAI’s data showed. Reliance Jio's active wireless subscribers were less than the industry average of 86.4 percent. The percentage of active subscribers of rivals Idea Cellular Ltd., Airtel and Vodafone India stood at 101.4 percent, 97.06 percent and 94.6 percent respectively.
Reliance Jio’s active subscribers have been declining since it began operations. Its active subscriber base was 95 percent when it launched operations in September last year and started offering services for free.
With the fresh subscriber additions, Reliance Jio's total subscriber base grew to 11.25 crore at the end of April 2017. In contrast, Bharti Airtel has 27.3 crore subcribers, Vodafone had 20.9 crore while Idea had 19.6 crore.
Bharti Airtel continues to lead India’s telecom industry with a 23.5 percent market share followed by Vodafone and Idea at 17.8 percent and 16.7 percent respectively. Reliance Jio has captured 9.6 percent of the wireless market, the data showed.
Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications Ltd. and Aircel Ltd. have both been losing customers since they announced their merger in September last year. The combined subscriber base of the two operators fell to 17.7 crore from 18.4 crore in September.
The Indian telecom industry is going through a “distressed” phase with the total debt of the industry at more than Rs 7.5 lakh crore, Reliance Communications said at a media briefing recently. Incumbent operators have been vocal in criticising Reliance Jio's disruption of the Indian telecom industry. But Reliance Jio hit back, saying it is the failure to invest in new technology that hurt incumbents. The Competition Commission too has backed Reliance Jio against complaints of anti-competitive prices.