Reliance Jio and Airtel Mobile user numbers surge in November, while Vodafone Idea faces loss: TRAI

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel racked up nearly 25 lakh mobile subscribers in November, even as struggling Vodafone Idea lost nearly 18.3 lakh customers, according to data from industry regulator TRAI. Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom company, cemented its lead in the market by adding 14.26 lakh net subscribers in November, while Airtel added 10.56 lakh users.

At the end of November 2022, Jio’s mobile subscriber count stood at 42.28 crore, with levels dropping from 42.13 crore in the previous month.

Bharti Airtel’s subscriber gains boosted the Sunil Mittal-led company’s mobile user count to 36.60 crore in November.

In stark contrast, cash-strapped Vodafone Idea lost 18.27 lakh subscribers in the reporting month, tempering its subscriber base to 24.37 crore in November.

According to TRAI data, the total number of broadband subscribers increased to 82.53 crores at the end of November 2022 with a monthly growth rate of 0.47%.

The top five service providers accounted for over 98% market share at the end of November 2022.

The list included Reliance Jio (43 crore), Bharti Airtel (23 crore), Vodafone Idea (12.3 crore) and BSNL (2.6 crore), among others.

As of November 2022, the top five wireline broadband service providers were Reliance Jio (73.8 lakh), Bharti Airtel (55.6 lakh), BSNL (40.2 lakh), Atria Convergence Technologies (21.4 lakh) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (11.3 lakh).

The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio (42.28 crore), Bharti Airtel (22.5 crore), Vodafone Idea (12.34 crore), BSNL (2.18 crore) and Intech Online (2 .3 lakh), according to TRAI’s latest subscription data.

The total number of wireless subscribers fell to 1,143.04 million at the end of November 2022, from 1,143.63 million at the end of October 2022, a decrease of 0.05%.

“Monthly growth rates for urban and rural wireless subscriptions were 0.24% and -0.39%, respectively,” he said.