Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. added the highest number of active users among peers for the third straight month in May.
The Mukesh Ambani-controlled telecom operator added 27.9 lakh active subscribers, compared with its 6-month average of 26 lakh, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Bharti Airtel Ltd., after adding active subscribers for the nine straight months, lost such users in May. As many as 56.5 lakh regularly paying users left its network in May over a month ago. The company remains India’s biggest operator by active customers.
Vodafone Idea Ltd., on the other hand, lost 70 lakh active subscribers, the highest since April 2020. That takes its total user attrition in the last six months to 1.15 crore.
Reliance Jio’s active subscriber base grew 0.83% over the preceding month whereas the metric fell for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea by 1.6% and 2.8%, respectively.
Active subscriber base:
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Bharti Airtel: 34.1 crore.
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Vodafone Idea: 24.7 crore.
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Reliance Jio: 33.8 crore.
Active Subscriber Market Share
Bharti Airtel’s active subscriber market share declined by 18 basis points in May. After falling in January and February, Reliance Jio continues to witness an improvement on this count since March, while Vodafone Idea’s has eroded continuously.
Gross Subscriber Addition
The telecom industry lost 62.7 lakh gross subscribers in May 2021 after gaining users in the four preceding months. Reliance Jio was the only gainer in May, bulking up its count by 35.5 lakh, and outpacing Bharti Airtel on this parameter for the fourth straight month.
Bharti Airtel lost 46.1 lakh subscribers in May after gaining gross subscribers regularly in the preceding 10 months.
Vodafone Idea lost 42.8 lakh gross subscribers in May, which is the highest since December 2020. Between May 2020 and April 2021, the company has lost over 3.2 crore gross subscribers.
Reliance Jio’s gross subscriber base grew 0.83% month-on-month in May, whereas Bharti Airtel’s and Vodafone Idea’s gross subscriber count fell 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively, over the preceding month.
Gross Subscriber Base:
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Bharti Airtel: 34.8 crore.
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Vodafone Idea: 27.8 crore.
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Reliance Jio: 43.1 crore.
Industry Active Subscribers
After increasing for nine months in a row, the Indian telecom industry’s active subscribers base declined in May. The metric fell by 1.13 crore compared to the last six-month average net addition of 60.8 lakh.
Inactive Subscribers
But inactive user count widened. Bharti Airtel’s inactive user count widened in May after narrowing between December 2020 and April 2021. Reliance Jio’s inactive subscriber base widened for the fifth month on the trot. On the other hand, Vodafone Idea’s inactive subscribers widened for the fourth straight month in April after narrowing between October 2020 and January 2021.
Inactive User Base: