The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has finally released the monthly performance data of the telcos for the month of April 2022. It is interesting to see that all the private telcos have lost active subscribers during the month. What’s worth noting here is that even Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lost active users. It is like none of the telcos in the Indian telecom industry added new active users in April. Could this be because of tariff hikes? Well, it sounds a little strange because tariff hikes came seven months back, and if the users wanted to leave, they would have left already. Something peculiar is happening. Maybe users have stopped recharging their secondary SIMs because of rising mobile bills. Regardless, let’s take a look at the data released by TRAI.
Bharti Airtel Lost 3.1 Million Active Subscribers During April 2022
Bharti Airtel has lost 3.1 million active users during the month of April 2022. From having 355.78 million active users in March 2022, the telco’s active user count fell to 352.68 million.
Reliance Jio’s active user count came down from 378.95 million in March to 378.85 million in April, a negligible difference, yet a negative one. Vi’s active user count fell from 226.08 million to 222.33 million.
BSNL’s active subscriber base declined from 59.82 million to 59.31 million during the same time period. All the telcos have lost active subscribers, and it might be a sign of worry.
Overall, TRAI data said that Jio added 1.6 million new customers, Airtel added 0.81 million new users, while BSNL and Vi lost 0.36 million and 1.5 million subscribers. Investors would be worried about the fall in the number of active users.
Jio Shines in Wireline Department
Reliance Jio added 0.33 million new users in the wireline segment. Airtel and Vi also added 0.07 million and 0.02 million new wireline users. BSNL interestingly lost wireline users. Jio has been driving growth aggressively in the wireline segment due to JioFiber.
