Vodafone Idea, India's third-largest telecom player, added wireline subscribers for two consecutive months - October and November 2023. The data has been furnished by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). In Oct 2023, Vi added 19,130 wireline subs and in Nov 2023, the telco added 5,952 subscribers.
While the telecom player is adding wireline subscriptions, it isn't adding large numbers or the kind of numbers its competitors are gaining. This is why, at the end of Nov 2024, Vi's market share in the wireline segment was only 2.16%. In comparison, Jio had 34.23% of the market, Airtel had 26.08%, and BSNL had 19.56% market share in the wireline segment.
Vi operates its FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) service via One Broadband which offers services in select regions of the country.
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Is Wireline Segment a Huge Potential for Vi?
Considering the growth rate of wireline subscribers in India, there's a scope, especially as the culture of remote work is now a common thing in India. Many offices in the country are only asking employees to walk in two or three days of the week, while for the remaining week, these employees are asked to work from home. All of these homes where people are working or students are learning online require a decent FTTH connection, which Vi can provide.
The telco needs to come up with specialised offers through One Broadband where it also bundles OTT (over-the-top) content for the consumers. JioFiber and Airtel Xstream Fiber are the two top players in the country followed by BSNL Bharat Fibre in the wireline broadband space.
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ACT Fibernet, Excitel, and other players are growing fast in the market. Vi needs to figure out a way to gain market share by offering competitive services and plans to the customers.
In 2023, TelecomTalk reported that Vi has started offering Vi One, a bundled service with which users get a mobile connection along with OTT benefits and a broadband plan powered by One Broadband. This service can help the telco in boosting its average revenue per user (ARPU) figure in the short-to-medium term.
