Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), a state-run telecom operator, has been outperforming Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) for the last three months when it comes to subscribers. Vodafone Idea has a much wider reach and coverage as compared to BSNL. In fact, even when it comes to brand, Vi is superior and much more reputable in front of BSNL. However, the truth is, while BSNL has been adding new users for the last three months, Vodafone Idea has been losing users.
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According to data shared by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), BSNL has added more than 2 million wireless users in the last three months (August, September, and October 2025), while Vi has lost more than 3 million wireless users in the same period.
In the same time frame, the market share for Vodafone Idea has fallen from 17.44% to 17.13%. BSNL has seen its market share go up from 41.08% to 41.36%. BSNL has been working on improving its network performance by deploying high-speed 4G sites across India. The state-run telecom major is also eyeing to deploy 5G in the near future. The 5G deployment is likely to start from metro cities such as Mumbai and Delhi.
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Why is BSNL Adding Users and Vi Losing Them?
There's no one answer that would be wholly the truth to this question. BSNL is likely adding more users as private telcos have hiked tariffs, and BSNL can be a great choice as a secondary SIM to keep services activated at a lower cost. At the same time, BSNL's network services are getting upgraded. So this could be a major reason why BSNL has started adding wireless users. It will be interesting to see for how long exactly this will continue.
