The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday highlighted in its Telecom Subscription Data for the period ending June 30, 2020 that the number of telephone subscribers decreased to 1160.52 million. According to the data released by Trai, Indian telecom operators registered a combined subscriber base of 1163.67 million at the end of May, 2020. The data reveals that the Indian telecom operators lost a combined subscriber base of 3.15 million in one month. Trai said that the urban telephone subscriber base reduced from 637.85 million in May to 636.83 million in June indicating that the operators lost 1.02 million users in one month.
Overall Teledensity in India Decreased to 85.85% in June
Further, the Trai data highlights that the rural telephone subscriber base reduced to 523.69 million in June from 525.82 million in the previous month. The overall tele-density in India is said to have decreased to 85.85% at the end of June from 86.15% in the previous month.
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, North East, West Bengal and Rajasthan registered lower tele-density in June as compared to the national average.
Meanwhile, the wireless operators are said to have registered a combined subscriber base of 1,140.71 million in June as compared to 1,143.91 million in May. The Trai data highlights that the operators lost a combined subscriber base of 3.2 million in one month.
In the regional wise breakdown, the wireless operators registered an urban subscriber base of 619.11 million in June as compared to the 620.21 million subscribers in May. In the same time period, the wireless operators are said to have registered a combined rural subscriber base of 521.60 million in June as compared to 523.70 million in May. The Trai data highlights that the wireless operators lost 1.1 million urban subscribers and 2.1 million rural subscribers in one month.
Trai highlighted that the overall wireless tele-density decreased to 84.48% in June as compared to 84.69% in May.
Reliance Jio Added Over 4.4 Million Users in June
According to the Telecom Subscription Data for June, Reliance Jio is said to have added 4.4 million users in June. The Trai data highlights that Reliance Jio, the largest telecom operator in India has extended its overall market share in the country to 34.82% in June as compared to 34.33% in May.
It was said that Bharti Airtel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Vodafone Idea together lost over 7.6 million users in June. The Trai data highlights that Vodafone Idea lost over 4.8 million users in June followed by BSNL with 1.7 million users and Airtel with 1.1 million users.
Airtel also registered a marginal decline in its market share in the country from 27.78% in May to 27.76% in June. Similarly, the market share of Vodafone Idea is said to have declined to 26.75% in June from 27.09% in May.
However, it was said that Airtel continues to have more “active” users on its network followed by Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio.
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 HLR data provides the total subscriber base of an operator while the VLR data represents the subscriber roaming into one particular network at any 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.
According to the Trai data, Airtel registered 98.14% of its users on the VLR charts followed by Vodafone Idea at 89.49% and Reliance Jio at 78.15% in June. In the previous month, the Trai data highlights that Airtel registered 96.63% on the VLR charts followed by Vodafone Idea at 89.29% and Reliance Jio at 79.59%.
Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea are said to be the top three wireless broadband service providers in June with a subscriber base of 397.25 million, 148.84 million and 116.44 million respectively. In the previous month, Jio is said to have registered a wireless broadband subscriber base of 392.75 million followed by Airtel at 143.55 million and Vodafone Idea at 113.05 million. The Trai data highlights that Jio added around 4.5 million wireless broadband users while Airtel added around 5.29 million wireless broadband users in one month. Further, Vodafone Idea is said to have added 3.39 million wireless broadband users in the same time period.
