Reliance Jio Adds 82.6 Lakh Users In June, Vodafone Idea Loses 41.45 Lakh Subscribers: TRAI
Vodafone Idea shed 41.45 lakh subscribers, while Bharti Airtel lost 29,883 customers in June.
Older operators Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd. continued to lose subscribers during June, while rival Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. added over 82.6 lakh users, according to data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
In absolute terms, Vodafone Idea continued to lead the total subscriber tally at 38.34 crore, followed by Reliance Jio with 33.12 crore and Bharti Airtel with 32.03 crore.
Vodafone Idea shed 41.45 lakh subscribers, and Bharti Airtel 29,883 customers during June, while the Jio continued to add users.
TRAI data showed that Reliance Jio gained 82.68 lakh customers in June, higher than 81.80 lakh additions it had notched in May.
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. - despite all its financial and operational woes - continued to gain subscribers in June as well. BSNL, which was the only mobile operator apart from Jio to add customers, gained 2.66 lakh users during June.
Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, which have introduced minimum recharge schemes in their quest to chase higher average revenues per user and improve financials, have seen their subscriber base erode in the past months but the pace of subscriber loss appears to have slowed down in June.
For instance, Vodafone Idea had lost 56.97 lakh subscribers and Bharti Airtel 15.08 lakh users in May. These two operators have been locked in a bruising tariff war following the entry of Reliance Jio, backed by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani.
Subscriber Market Share As Of June 30
- Vodafone Idea: 32.9 percent
- Reliance Jio: 28.42 percent
- Bharti Airtel: 27.49 percent