Jio and BSNL Gain Subscribers in March as Vodafone and Airtel Lose

Reliance Jio and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) gained subscribers while Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea lost its users in March, a report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) reveals. The Trai report highlighting the Telecom Subscription Data as on March 31, 2020 said that India had 989.10 million active wireless subscribers. Crucially, the total number of telephone subscribers in India is said to have decreased from 1,180.84 million as of February to 1,177.97 million as of March 31, 2020. The overall tele-density in India is said to have decreased from 87.66% at the end of February to 87.37% as of March 31, 2020.

Reliance Jio Adds 4.6 Million Subscribers in March

The report highlights that Reliance Jio added 46,87,639 subscribers while BSNL added 95,428 subscribers in March. Vodafone Idea lost 63,53,200 subscribers in March while Airtel subscriber base declined by 12,61,952 users. Further, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is said to have lost 4,645 subscribers in March.

Reliance Jio continues to its position as the top cellular provider in India with a market share of 33.47% followed by Airtel with a 28.31% market share. Vodafone Idea emerges as the third largest provider in India with a market share of 27.57% while BSNL accounts for 10.35% market share in March.

The TRAI data also said that Bharti Airtel has the maximum proportion of active subscribers at 96.18% with MTNL registering a minimum proportion of 25.37% in March. The data for active subscribers is said to be calculated based on the proportion between visitor location register (VLR) and home location register (HLR). The VLR represents the subscribers roaming into one particular network at a given time. It has to be noted that the subscriber can be present at a single network at any point of time, thus, signifying the importance of VLR data.

Vodafone Idea is said to have the second largest number of active subscriber base at 92% followed by Reliance Jio and BSNL at 80.93% and 54.81% respectively .

Rural Areas Register Growth in Subscription Data

While the country registered a dip in overall subscription data, the rural areas is said to have registered an increase from 519.62 million in February to 521.51 million in March. The rural tele-density is said to have increased from 58.61% in February to 58.79% in March.

Similar data is registered in the wireless subscriber base with the rural areas recording an increase from 517.34 million in February to 519.27 million in March. The TRAI report highlights that the rural wireless tele-density increased from 58.35% in February to 58.54% in March.