Reliance Jio pips Airtel, Idea in wireless user addition, BSNL loses max wireline users in September, reveals Trai data

Reliance Jio Infocomm has pipped market leaders like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular in terms of subscriber addition in September 2016. The Mukesh Ambani-led telco added 15.9 million users, as compared to market leader Bharti Airtel’s 2.4 million subscriber addition in the same period, according to latest data released by the telecom regulator, Trai.

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Reliance Jio, which launched commercial operations on September 5, recently extended its free offer to garner 100 million before March 31, 2017. According to the Trai data, Idea Cellular added 1.91 million new uses, followed by state-run BSNL, which added 1.4 million new users in September. Vodafone India added 525,281 users while Aircel added 426,862 new users in the month.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) added 97,942 new users in September, while MTNL added just 5641 new users in the month. Tata Teleservices lost over a million subscribers in the month. Sistema Shyam Teleservices (MTS India) and Telenor India lost 340,743 and 367,162 subscribers, respectively, in the month.
MTS India is currently in the process of being merged with RCom, which recently inked an agreement to merge wireless operations with Aircel to create a new wireless entity.

Bharti Airtel has the largest market share of 24.76%, followed by Vodafone at 19.12% and Idea at 17.03%. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. had 8.93% share of the market, while MTNL had only 0.34% share, the data revealed. Total wireless subscriber base increased from 1,028.88 million at the end of Aug-16 to 1,049.74 million at the end of Sep-16, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 2.03%, the report said.