Bharti Airtel has been continuously adding wireless subscribers for more than a year now, and to be precise, December 2022 marks the fourteenth month of continuous wireless additions. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released the telecom subscription data for December, and there are significant numbers to discuss concerning the Active Wireless Subscriber base, Wireless Subscriber Additions and VLR of Bharti Airtel. So let’s look at those in this Analysis.
It’s known that Airtel has been continuously adding wireless subscribers now, and the numbers speak for themselves. Starting November 2021, Airtel has been adding wireless subscribers steadily, and it’s the same story in December 2022, two months after the launch of Airtel 5G Plus services. To recollect, Airtel launched 5G Plus services at IMC on October 01, 2022. From 355,294,534 wireless subscribers in November 2021 to 367,608,695 in December 2022, Airtel has come a long way involving Tariff Hikes, 5G Plus Announcements and other product offerings and bundlings.
Airtel Wireless Subscribers for December 2022
Airtel has a wireless subscriber base of 367,608,695 at the end of December 2022, with a net of 1,526,419 adds. Airtel added wireless subscribers in most circles except in Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh West. Airtel Rural subscribers also increased, and the number now stands at 177,390,767.
With a 6.02 Million Active Wireless Subscriber base addition, Airtel stands the highest in Active subscriber additions among all the telcos. If we look at the VLR, 99.29 per cent is also the highest among the telcos and the highest for Airtel too in recent years, which was recorded in December 2022. Airtel is the only telco with the highest active wireless subscriber number, very close to the total wireless subscriber base. The VLR percentage achieved is the highest in over two years.
As of this writing, Airtel 5G Plus is available in 113 cities, and Bharti Airtel plans to expand Airtel 5G Plus services to 300 cities by March 2023 and cover all Urban areas by March 2024. The wireless subscribers and Active subscriber base numbers show the interest Airtel 5G Plus has created among users as it is open, and anyone with any recharge plan can experience the service.
You can check out the exact Airtel 5G Plus launch details, circles, spectrum holdings and locations of 5G availability in India on the page here.
Airtel, during its Q3FY23 earnings call with Analysts, said that Airtel Payments Bank deposits grew by 50% over the last year. The Payments Bank is gaining momentum and will help the telco reduce churn. Airtel will also be ready with Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA) in around six months now, and the only thing that is holding, according to Airtel, is the CPE pricing and the pricing it translates to end customers.
Conclusion
Overall, if we look at the market scenario, irrespective of other telcos, Airtel is chalking its own path and going ahead with its strategy, and the numbers are only speaking for themselves. Be it the entry-level tariff corrections in 17 circles so far or the 5G Rollout strategy, Airtel is following an unique approach. In addition, the telco has recently partnered with Vultr to offer Industry leading B2B Cloud offerings. In the Broadband segment, Airtel has expanded to 293 new cities and is on track to achieve a 30 million home passes milestone.
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