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Reliance Jio Continues To Add Customers Faster Even As Telecom Subscriber Base Declines

The wireless telecom industry lost over 5 lakh customers in July.

A man stands in front of posters and banners advertising the services of various mobile networks displayed in the window of a store at the Nehru Place IT Market in New Delhi, India (Photographer: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)  
A man stands in front of posters and banners advertising the services of various mobile networks displayed in the window of a store at the Nehru Place IT Market in New Delhi, India (Photographer: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)  

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. continued to add customers at a faster pace than other operators in July, when the telecom industry’s subcriber base saw a marginal decline.

The Mukesh Ambani-backed operator added 52.1 lakh customers with its subscriber base growing 4.2 percent over June, according to monthly data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Total wireless subscribers in India declined 0.004 percent in July to 11,868.4 lakh customers.

Reliance Jio Continues To Add Customers Faster Even As Telecom Subscriber Base Declines

A 0.4 percent decline in rural wireless customers offset the 0.3 percent growth in urban areas.

The second and third largest telecom players in the country – Vodafone India and Idea Cellular Ltd. – lost nearly 37 lakh customers. The largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained 6 lakh customers, a growth of 0.2 percent.

Reliance Jio Continues To Add Customers Faster Even As Telecom Subscriber Base Declines

Bharti Airtel continued to lead the pack with a 23.7 percent market share, followed by Vodafone with 17.7 percent and Idea with 16.3 percent. Reliance Jio continued to grab a bigger piece of the pie with its market share rising to 10.8 percent.