Vodafone Idea Continues Its 12 Month Long Subscriber Losing Streak

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Vodafone Idea Continues Its 12 Month Long Subscriber Losing Streak: TRAI

Telecom Regulatory of India released its report on the subscriber base for October 2021. Vodafone Idea, the merged entity of Vodafone and Idea Cellular, has also achieved a milestone if we observe the wireless subscriber numbers for the past 12 months. In this Analysis, let’s look into the subscriber numbers and the priority circle performance.

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Vi (Vodafone Idea) Records Continuous Subscriber loss for the last 12 plus Months

Month	TRAI Data for	Total Subscribers	Net Addition	VLR %
Month 1	Nov 2021	267,129,032	-1,897,050	86.69
Month 2	Dec 2021	265,514,322	-1,614,710	86.42
Month 3	Jan 2022	265,125,240	-389,082	86.3
Month 4	Feb 2022	263,593,051	-1,532,189	85.7
Month 5	Mar 2022	260,774,732	-2,818,319	86.7
Month 6	Apr 2022	259,206,066	-1,568,666	85.77
Month 7	May 2022	258,446,808	-759,258	85.14
Month 8	Jun 2022	256,645,622	-1,801,186	85.2
Month 9	Jul 2022	255,102,703	-1,542,919	85.03
Month 10	Aug 2022	253,144,350	-1,958,353	84.65
Month 11	Sep 2022	249,132,806	-4,011,544	85.17
Month 12	Oct 2022	245,623,140	-3,509,666	86.2

From 267,129,032 wireless subscribers in November 2021 to 245,623,140 wireless subscribers in October 2022, Vi (Vodafone Idea) has come a long way with subscriber loss. Even the VLR hovered around 86 per cent, which saw many ups and downs.

Also Read: Vodafone Idea Lost Subscribers in All of its Circles Except Delhi and Karnataka: TRAI Data

Vodafone Idea (Vi) Wireless Subscribers for October 2022

Sl. No	Circle	Sep 2022	Oct 2022	Subscriber Gain/Loss
1	Andhra Pradesh & Telangana	12,491,955	12,300,968	-190,987
2	Assam	2,264,284	2,203,229	-61,055
3	Bihar	9,959,642	9,700,393	-259,249
4	Delhi	16,616,495	16,668,651	52,156
5	Gujarat	23,266,733	22,971,933	-294,800
6	Haryana	7,729,482	7,633,531	-95,951
7	Himachal Pradesh	521,480	510,985	-10,495
8	Jammu & Kashmir	414,420	408,684	-5,736
9	Karnataka	7,668,092	7,636,633	-31,459
10	Kerala	14,990,802	14,878,749	-112,053
11	Kolkata	5,993,135	5,947,569	-45,566
12	Madhya Pradesh	18,318,854	17,867,798	-451,056
13	Maharashtra & Goa	26,351,731	25,785,346	-566,385
14	Mumbai	11,440,567	11,515,155	74,588
15	North East	1,023,214	1,004,679	-18,535
16	Odisha	1,677,824	1,645,826	-31,998
17	Punjab	7,640,310	7,544,015	-96,295
18	Rajasthan	10,609,215	10,400,783	-208,432
19	Tamil Nadu	17,445,195	17,221,976	-223,219
20	Uttar Pradesh East	19,609,019	19,331,519	-277,500
21	Uttar Pradesh West	17,878,479	17,532,134	-346,345
22	West Bengal	15,221,878	14,912,584	-309,294
	Total	249,132,806	245,623,140	-3,509,666
	Net Addition	-4,011,544	-3,509,666

Vodafone Idea lost 3,509,666 wireless subscribers in all of its circles except Delhi and Mumbai. Vi lost most subscribers in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Goa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West and West Bengal.

Vi’s (Vodafone Idea) Lucrative Tariff Benefits Not Helping

We are not sure what kind of customers Vi is targeting, but considering the benefits the telco bundles on both prepaid and postpaid, it appears that the telco targets users who spend nights consuming the internet with Night Unlimited, watch a lot of OTT content and spend most of their times on mobile devices. However, even with such lucrative benefits, the subscriber numbers show that customers are least interested in sticking with the telco. We also believe if the churn continues, Vi will further reduce the tariff to attract or retain subscribers. But it needs to be seen, with such a subscriber base, who would be interested in investing.

Possible Reasons for Subscriber Loss

We believe the below might be some possible reasons for subscriber loss.

1. Network Quality

From my experience, network quality is one main reason customers are not sticking with the telco. Yes, Vi’s Network has issues, and I experience it daily. A few issues with the Network include No VoLTE or fluctuating VoLTE, not so good voice quality on 2G and poor data services where specific sites lag in loading. On one side, speed tests show 30 Mbps while Instant messages struggle to deliver or pages drag to load. This has been my experience since the merger and is not something new.

2. Investments

The number of years the telco has dragged without any concrete business plan also delayed bringing investments into the company. The anonymous references to fresh investments in the news are also possible reasons for hardly any trust left.

3. Actions are different from Words

On one side, the telco talks about unsustainable tariffs at various platforms but reduces the tariffs on postpaid and prepaid segments. So, this makes us believe vi does not need any funds and is sustainable. While no user will be interested in paying for substandard quality, we believe the telco needs to develop a plan.

4. No 5G Radios Installed

As of November 26, 2022, there is not a single 5G radio installed, per the Ministry of Communications response. On the 5G aspect, the telco claims they are working with handset vendors for the eco-system. What it is that the telco needs to work separately when two other telcos are also doing it in parallel is something we are not sure about.

Conclusion:

As of now, it is difficult to anticipate anything with much uncertainty around the telco. However, with subscriber loss continuing for more than a year, we believe it is highly unsustainable for any telco to perform.

Note: Manual work is involved, and care is taken to avoid any errors. Please report in case of any corrections.

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