According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) report, Bharati Airtel has lost over 1.2 million subscribers in March 2020. While Vodafone Idea has also reported the biggest slump in its subscribers as it lost over 63 lakh customers. The collective loss stand at a staggering 75 lakh customers.

This comes at a time when their rival firm Reliance Jio has witnessed an increase of 46 lakh wireless subscribers in the same period.

According to the data, Jio leads the market with 33.47 per cent followed by Airtel which stands at 28.31 per cent market share in the wireless subscriber base. Third, comes Vodafone Idea with 27.57 per cent market share, followed by BSNL (10.35 per cent) and MTNL (0.29 per cent).

This has been a big jolt to Airtel, which had gained over 9 lakh subscribers in February. While Vodafone Idea continues to decline. Earlier in February, it had lost over 34 lakh subscribers.

In March, Reliance Jio had a subscriber base of over 38.7 crore. Bharti Airtel’s subscriber base saw a reduction and stands at over 32.7 crore. This is followed by Vodafone Idea (31.9 crore), BSNL (11.9 crore), and MTNL (33.6 lakh).

TRAI report for March 2020 revealed that the total wireless subscribers saw a drop from 116 crore at the end of February to 115 crore at the end of March.

Broadband subscribers

Reliance Jio hegemonised the broadband market as well with a market share of 56.50 per cent. Airtel comes second in the race with 21.61 per cent, followed by Vodafone at 17.09 per cent.

Published on July 15, 2020