Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL), the third-largest telecom operator in the country, has added active users after a long gap of 21 months. But what's noticeable about this is that the gain is almost close to nothing. The telco's active subscriber base went up from 171.52 million in August 2025 to 171.54 million in September 2025. This means an effective gain of just 0.02 million active users. This is not remotely enough to make any material difference in the telco's business. However, it could be a sign of a changing business. The telco has invested pretty much the most in the 4G networks amogst all the telcos in the last one year. The high capex (capital expenditure) spending allowed Vi to add active users after 21 months.
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This could be a stepping stone for the telco towards a brighter future. Even the Supreme Court recently gave a relief to the ailing telco by saying that the government can re-examine the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues demand. This could bring long-term relief for the company.
What was interesting is that Airtel lost active users while Jio continued to add them. Airtel's active user base fell from 390.08 million to 389.16 million MoM. Reliance Jio's active user base went up from 468.82 million to 471.92 million user. BSNL's active user base also went up from 55.39 million to 55.59 million users.
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Vodafone Idea needs to add more users to make money and improve margins. The telco has been struggling with the business not just because of the debt it has, but also because of the inferior networks. That is what it intends to change and is changing with the high-capex spends. Now the company is looking to raise more money to ensure that it can continue with the network expansion.
