Reliance Jio Subscriber Loss: Mukesh Ambani's company loses most users in September after...

India’s top telecom companies, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, experienced a drop in subscribers for the third consecutive month in September 2024, following their tariff hikes in July. Data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed that Reliance Jio lost a significant 7.9 million users, while Vodafone Idea and Airtel saw declines of 1.5 million and 1.4 million users, respectively.

BSNL Gains Subscribers Amid Industry Decline
Amid these losses, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) stood out as the only operator to add subscribers in September. BSNL’s decision to keep its tariffs unchanged helped it gain 849,493 new users, boosting its total wireless subscriber base from 91.04 million in August to 91.89 million in September. This growth also improved BSNL’s market share to 7.98%.

Overall Decline in Wireless Subscriber Base
India’s overall wireless subscriber base saw a decline of 0.87%, falling from 1.169 billion in August to 1.153 billion in September. Urban subscribers dropped from 633.21 million to 628.12 million, while rural subscribers fell from 530.63 million to 525.60 million during the same period.

Jio Retains Leadership Despite Losses
Despite losing subscribers, Jio continued to dominate the telecom market with a 40.20% share, though this was slightly down from 40.53% in August. Airtel’s market share saw a slight increase to 33.24%, and Vodafone Idea maintained a relatively stable share of 18.41%. BSNL’s gains further solidified its position in the market.

Mixed Trends in Active Subscriber Data
Active subscriber trends showed mixed results. Airtel’s active user base dropped by 1.31 million to 380.68 million, and Vodafone Idea lost 3.11 million active users, bringing its total to 179.52 million. Meanwhile, Jio’s active user base increased to 54.77 million.

4G/5G Subscriber Growth
In the high-speed 4G/5G segment, Bharti Airtel and BSNL led the way. Airtel added 0.42 million new users, reaching a total of 276.68 million. BSNL added 1.5 million users, bringing its 4G subscriber base to 33.50 million, thanks to its ongoing rollout of 4G services.

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