Srinagar, Oct 30: Reliance Jio strengthened its position in India’s telecom market in September, adding nearly 10 times more core mobile subscribers than Bharti Airtel, according to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
As per analyst reports based on TRAI data, India’s core mobile subscriber base, excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, increased by 2.2 million during September to reach 1.15 billion. Jio accounted for 1.9 million of these additions, while Airtel added just 0.2 million subscribers.
Jio ended September with 511.14 million core mobile subscribers, maintaining its lead over Airtel, which had 494.29 million users.
Airtel’s subscriber additions marked its weakest monthly expansion in recent months. Analysts have attributed the slowdown partly to the withdrawal of its affordable Rs 299 prepaid plan in August, which may have affected its ability to attract and retain price-sensitive customers.
Although Airtel recorded gross wireless subscriber additions of 2.69 million during September, its much smaller gain in core mobile users indicates that a significant portion of its additions came from M2M connections rather than regular mobile subscribers.
The trend was also reflected in active subscriber numbers, which provide a broader indication of actual network usage.
The industry’s active core mobile subscriber base, measured through the Visitor Location Register (VLR), increased by 0.6 million during September. Jio alone added 1.3 million active subscribers, while Airtel lost 0.2 million and Vodafone Idea registered a decline of 0.3 million.
The figures indicate that Jio was the only major private telecom operator among the three to record growth in its active subscriber base during the month.
September’s numbers underline Jio’s continued dominance in subscriber additions, with the company accounting for nearly nine out of every 10 net core mobile subscribers added by the industry.
For Airtel, the slowdown in core mobile additions and the decline in active users present a challenge, particularly following the discontinuation of its Rs 299 prepaid plan. Jio, meanwhile, continued to widen its lead over its nearest competitor in India’s highly competitive telecom market.
