BSNL and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have lost wireless subscribers, while Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have gained wireless subscribers in March 2024, as per the Telecom Subscription Data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday. The report noted that Airtel had gained wireless subscribers across all circles during the month. With this, the total number of wireless subscribers across all the operators in India increased at the end of March 2024, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.07 percent.
Also Read: BSNL and Vodafone Idea Continue to Lose Wireless Subscribers: TRAI
Mobile Operators Performance
Specifically speaking about the mobile operators, Bharti Airtel added around 1.75 million wireless subscribers in March 2024, taking its subscriber base to 385.76 million. Vodafone Idea (Vi) lost 0.68 million wireless subscribers, reducing its total subscriber base to 219.82 million. Similarly, BSNL/MTNL lost 2.36 million subscribers, bringing its total to 89.99 million. Reliance Jio gained 2.14 million subscribers, reaching a total wireless subscriber base of 469.73 million. The leadership positions of telcos in respective circles remained the same as the previous month without any change.
Telecom Circles
Airtel is the only telecom company that gained wireless subscribers in all circles without losing even in a single circle. Reliance Jio, on the other hand, lost subscribers in three circles, namely Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Goa, and North East. Vodafone Idea lost subscribers in all circles except Bihar, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh East. As for BSNL/MTNL, the state-owned telecom companies lost wireless subscribers across all circles except in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Bihar, and West Bengal.
Market Share Analysis
Based on the subscriber gains and losses as of March 31, 2024, the market share of wireless subscribers for the top companies is as follows: Reliance Jio has 40.30 percent, Bharti Airtel has 33.10 percent, Vodafone Idea has 18.86 percent, BSNL has 7.57 percent, and MTNL has 0.17 percent of the market share.
Wireless Broadband Services
Moving to wireless broadband service, according to TRAI, Jio has reported 469.73 million wireless broadband users, Bharti Airtel 265.50 million, Vodafone Idea 127.69 million, and BSNL 20.65 million wireless broadband users.
Also Read: Bharti Airtel Added Highest Wireless Broadband Subscribers in November 2023: TRAI
Urban vs. Rural Subscriptions
The additions of all the telecom service providers have increased the total number of wireless subscribers in India from 1,164.64 million at the end of February 2024, to 1,165.49 million at the end of March 2024. While the number of wireless subscriptions in urban areas decreased from 636.11 million to 634.47 million, there was an increase in the number of wireless subscriptions in rural areas from 528.53 million to 531.02 million during the same period.
VLR Data
Regarding the Visitor Location Register (VLR), as usual, Airtel registered the highest in the industry with a VLR percentage of 99.91 on the date of Peak VLR in March 2024, followed by Reliance Jio with 91.62 percent, Vodafone Idea with 87.92 percent, BSNL with 54.58 percent, and MTNL with 25.67 percent.
This means, that out of the total 1,165.49 million wireless subscribers, 1,057.71 million wireless subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in March 2024. It's worth noting that VLR is a temporary database of subscribers who have roamed into the particular area it serves.
