India's largest telecommunications operator, Reliance Jio, continued to experience significant subscriber losses for the third consecutive month, with 7.96 million wireless users leaving in September 2024. It was followed by Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel in terms of subscriber losses. During the same period, state-owned BSNL stood out as the only wireless subscriber gainer, according to data from TRAI as of September 30, 2024.
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Private Operators Report Declines
Surprisingly, Reliance Jio has been steadily losing wireless subscribers, marking September as the third consecutive month of decline. The operator reported losses of approximately 0.75 million subscribers in July, 4.01 million in August, and 7.96 million in September. Similarly, Airtel has also faced three straight months of subscriber losses, with declines of 1.7 million in July, 2.4 million in August, and 1.43 million in September. As for Vodafone Idea (Vi), subscriber losses have been a consistent trend for months, with 1.55 million subscribers leaving in September alone, according to TRAI.
BSNL's Subscriber Growth Trend
Conversely, BSNL has shown a positive trend, adding wireless subscribers since July. The operator gained approximately 2.92 million subscribers in July, 2.53 million in August, and 0.84 million in September.
According to TRAI, Reliance Jio's wireless subscriber base now stands at 463.78 million, followed by Airtel with 383.48 million, Vi with 212.45 million, and BSNL/MTNL with a combined base of around 93.8 million. This gives Reliance Jio a market share of 40.20 percent, Bharti Airtel 33.24 percent, Vodafone Idea 18.41 percent, and BSNL/MTNL approximately 8.15 percent.
Circle Specific Trends
Reliance Jio reported subscriber losses across all telecom circles. In contrast, Airtel managed to gain wireless subscribers in Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, and Odisha. Vodafone Idea gained subscribers in Karnataka, Mumbai, and Odisha. Meanwhile, BSNL recorded losses in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Assam, Haryana, Karnataka, Kolkata, and Mumbai but gained subscribers in all other circles.
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VLR Percentage
Airtel continued to report the highest Visitor Location Register (VLR) proportion in September at 99.27 percent, followed by Jio at 95.84 percent, Vodafone Idea at 84.50 percent, BSNL at 59.47 percent, and MTNL at 27.08 percent.
Wireless Market Share
The total number of wireless subscribers decreased from 1,163.83 million at the end of August 2024 to 1,153.72 million by the end of September 2024, registering a monthly decline of 0.87 percent.
As of September 30, 2024, private access service providers held 91.85 percent of the wireless subscriber market share, while BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, accounted for only 8.15 percent.
Broadband Wireless Subscribers
During the same period, the recorded subscriber base of wireless broadband service providers shows Reliance Jio leading with 463.78 million subscribers, followed by Airtel with 276.68 million. Vodafone Idea held a subscriber base of 126.35 million, while BSNL recorded 33.50 million subscribers.
