In Short:
In February 2024, Vodafone Idea (Vi) lost around 1 million wireless subscribers, totaling 2.5 million lost users in January and February. Meanwhile, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel gained users. Jio added 7.6 million subscribers, while Airtel added 2.25 million. Vi is struggling, with their subscriber base decreasing. Jio has the largest user base, followed by Airtel. Both Airtel and Jio are focusing on rural markets to increase their subscriber numbers.
Vodafone Idea Loses Over a Million Wireless Subscribers
Vodafone Idea (Vi), a prominent Indian telecom operator, reported a loss of slightly more than a million wireless subscribers in February 2024. This comes after losing 1.5 million wireless subscribers in January. In total, Vi saw around 2.5 million subscribers leaving the network in the first two months of the year.
Other Telecom Operators
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) also experienced a decline, losing about 170,000 users in February 2024. In January, BSNL lost 1.18 million wireless users, bringing the total to approximately 1.35 million users lost.
On the other hand, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel witnessed growth in their wireless user base. Jio added 3.5 million users in February and 4.1 million in January, accumulating a total of 7.6 million new subscribers. Airtel added 1.5 million in February and 0.75 million in January, reaching a total of 2.25 million new users.
The data is sourced from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) monthly performance indicator report for the telecom sector.
Active Users (VLR)
In terms of active users, Jio had 426.7 million VLR subscribers in February, an increase of 1.18 million compared to the previous month. Airtel’s VLR subscriber count also rose to 382.60 million, up by 1.5 million month-over-month.
Vodafone Idea, however, saw a decline in active subscribers with a count of 193.85 million, down by 0.61 million users month-over-month. BSNL lost 0.09 million active users, bringing its total active user base to 48.33 million.
Jio maintains the largest wireless subscriber base in India with over 467.59 million users, followed by Airtel with 384.01 million users. Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base has significantly decreased over the past five years and now stands at 220.50 million.
Future Strategies
Both Airtel and Jio are actively targeting rural markets to attract more subscribers from their competitors. Jio, in particular, is leveraging low-cost SIM-locked 4G phones like JioPhone, JioBharat Phone, and JioPhone Next to gain a larger market share.
