Indian Telecom sector body, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) today released the latest telecom subscriber numbers for the month ending August 2017. As per the data released by COAI, India’s private telecom service providers have a total of 948.54 million subscribers, including those of the new entrant Reliance Jio’s till the end of July 2017 (As per TRAI Data).
Amongst the individual companies, Bharti Airtel continued to hold the top position, with 29.63% market share, closely followed by Vodafone India, which reported 208.14 million, while Idea Cellular ended August with 191.06 million subscribers.
The report, which also provides mobile subscriber numbers across the individual circles, showed that UP (East) circle remained at the top with a total of 84.07 million subscribers, while Kerala reported the maximum subscriber additions, amongst the circles, ending the month at 0.17 million subscribers. Bharti remains the market leader in 13 circles, followed by Vodafone in five and Idea in three, the data showed.
Having said that, telecom operators have reported a loss of subscribers in August 2017. All the telecom operators combinedly lost 6,406,556 customers. In July 2017, apart from Airtel, all the telecom operators lost subscribers, but in August 2017, Airtel also lost subscribers.
Airtel lost 206,251 subscribers, while Vodafone lost 2,404,807 customers, followed by Idea Cellular with 2,898,508 subscribers. Other small operators such as Aircel, Telenor also reported a loss of subscribers.
Mr Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI said “The telecom industry is contributing significantly to the Indian economy. The industry has ensured that Government’s Digital India programme reaches the farthest corners of the country and everyone reaps the benefit of new communication technologies. We envision an empowered society where every individual participates in the economic growth of the country.”
The industry remains committed to working for a fully connected and digitally empowered India and furthering the Hon Prime Minister’s vision. We remain hopeful for some serious and sustainable relief from IMG, added Mathews.
