ADVERTISEMENT

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Add Subscribers In August, Vodafone Idea Lags

The number of active wireless subscribers rose for the industry in August after declining for two consecutive months.

A Bharti Airtel Ltd. employee waits for customers at a street stall in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
A Bharti Airtel Ltd. employee waits for customers at a street stall in Mumbai, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. added the highest number of active subscribers to its network in August, followed by Bharti Airtel Ltd.

However, the billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s telecom firm has a greater proportion of inactive subscribers than its peers. Vodafone Idea Ltd., on the other hand, continued to lose a significant number of gross and active subscribers.

That comes even as the overall industry’s active wireless subscribers increased in August after declining for two consecutive months, according to data from Motilal Oswal.

Visitor Location Register

The visitor location register levels—or the percentage of active subscribers to total subscribers—for the overall industry declined by 13 basis points between July and August, according to data from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Airtel’s VLR was the highest at 96.9%, followed by Vodafone Idea’s 88.2% and Reliance Jio’s 78.9%.

Gross, Active Subscriber Additions

Among the three telecom operators, Reliance Jio added the highest number of active subscribers sequentially in August but its gross subscriber addition slowed, data from Motilal Oswal showed. Bharti Airtel’s gross subscriber and active counts rose in August.

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio Add Subscribers In August, Vodafone Idea Lags

Inactive Subscribers

The gap between Jio’s gross and active subscribers dipped in August. Bharti Airtel’s inactive subscribers remained constant at around 10 million in the last two months. On the other hand, Vodafone Idea’s inactive subscriber base widened in August over a month ago.

Active Subscribers Market Share

Reliance Jio was the leader on this count, closely followed by Bharti Airtel. Vodafone Idea is losing its active market share gradually.