Vodafone Idea’s High-Paying Data Users Shrink The Most In Eight Months
Vodafone Idea’s active subscriber base declined by over 2.6 crore, the biggest drop since its merger.
.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1688&auto=format%2Ccompress&w=200)
The number of high-paying users of India’s largest telecom operator fell the most in eight months in April.
Vodafone Idea Ltd.’s broadband users—customers who predominantly use data and generate higher revenue—dropped by nearly 6 lakh, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's report released on Monday. The wireless operator’s active subscriber base also declined by over 2.6 crore, the biggest drop since the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular Ltd.
The operator has seen a continuous decline in its active subscribers for the last one year. The base shrank by over 7.7 crore in the period. The loss in the last five months was partly due to to the minimum recharge plans that it had introduced earlier this year to cut costs.
Along with such plans, Aliasgar Shakir, telecom analyst with Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd., had said in an earlier report that deteriorating network quality and possible network integration issues could have also caused the drop.
Stiff competition in the telecom sector following the entry of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. hurt revenue and profits of incumbent players. The upstart stormed in with free voice services and initially free data services to lure subscribers. That prompted consolidation among larger rivals and exits by smaller firms.
The Indian telecom market saw the biggest decline in active user base in April. It fell by nearly 2.2 crore, mainly led by Vodafone Idea. Bharti Airtel Ltd. lost nearly 37.3 lakh active subscribers—the highest in three months. Reliance Jio added 72 lakh active subscribers—the lowest in the three months.
Bharti Airtel added nearly 11 lakh broadband users in April—the lowest in four months. That doesn’t bode well for India’s second-largest wireless operator which is looking to increase its data subscribers to earn higher revenue.
And it comes after the company’s revenue from its mobile business in India grew at its fastest pace in three years in the quarter ended March on the back of the rising share of data users.
Bharti Airtel’s share in the industry’s active user base rose the most in 10 months in April, and Reliance Jio’s grew the most in 14 months. Vodafone Idea’s market share declined yet again to 34.2 percent.