Reliance Jio, the 4G entrant, has cornered 9.29 percent subscriber market share as on March 31, up from 8.83 percent in February, becoming the fourth largest wireless telecom operator in India, according to TRAI's latest data.
Reliance Jio was also the top wireless broadband service provider in March with 108.68 million users, followed by Bharti Airtel (47.04 million), Vodafone (37.71 million), Idea Cellular (24.70 million) and Reliance Communications (14.01 million).
Reliance Jio, which launched services on September 5, 2016, added over 100 million subscribers in 170 days with the help of free services, leading to a data war and consolidation in the market.
The Mukesh Ambani-led 4G service provider has added maximum 58.39 lakh subscribers in the month of March, ahead of Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and BSNL that have added 29.99 lakh, 20.9 lakh and 20,77 lakh wireless subscribers, respectively.
Vodafone India, which currently is the second largest telecom operator, had added 18.34 lakh new users, TRAI data suggested.
Total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & LTE) increased from 1,164.20 million at the end of February 2017 to 1,170.18 million at the end of Marc 2017, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.51 percent. The Wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 671.63 million at the end of February to 672.42 million at the end of March, and wireless subscription in rural areas increased from 492.57 million to 497.76 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were 0.12 percent and 1.05 percent, respectively.
During the month of March, the Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator had a maximum market share at 23.39 percent, followed by Vodafone at 17.87 percent and Idea Cellular at 16.70 percent share.
The telecom industry saw a net addition of 59. 78 lakh customers in March. Reliance Communications lost 27.7 lakh subscribers in the month.
The wireless teledensity in India increased from 90.70 percent at the end of February to 91.08 percent at the end of March. The urban wireless teledensity slightly declined from 166.77 percent at the end of February to 166.71 percent at the end of March, however rural wireless teledensity increased from 55.92 percent to 56.47 percent during the same period.
