Mobile subscriber base of Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel declined by nearly 14.5 million and 15.1 million respectively, totaling nearly 30 million subscribers as of March over the previous month.
Compared to this, Reliance Jio added 9.4 million users during the same period, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data.
Basically, except for Jio, all telcos have lost subscribers in March this year. This is staggering, considering all players are now offering similar, competitive plans to users, with voice calls free and data selling at its cheapest ever rates.
India's total wireless subscriber base fell to 1,161.8 million on 31 March, 2019, shedding 21.87 million users over the previous month.
According to TRAI, the wireless subscriber base of Vodafone Idea at the end of March 2019 was 394.8 million. VIL's last quarter of 2018-19 total user base was at 334.1 million.
Bharti Airtel's mobile subscriber base was 325.1 million, and that of rival Reliance Jio was 306.7 million as on March 2019.
As on March 31, 2019, Vodafone Idea leads the market share at 33.98 percent followed by Airtel at 27.99 percent and Reliance Jio at 26.40 percent and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) at 9.96 percent.
Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel together shed 29.6 million users by March-end compared to February.
The customers base of Reliance Ji was 306.7 million as on March 2019, against 297.2 million as on February. Going at this rate, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jio lead the Indian mobile sector, surpassing Airtel and Vodafone Idea Limited.
It has been an intriguing journey for the Reliance-owned telecom operator, which was offering its services free of cost for more than 15 months in the country. Even after that, Jio managed to bag millions of users, and continues to do so.
Most experts put the onus on demand for the the affordable JioPhone 4G device, which has changed the dynamics of the feature phone segment in the country since its introduction in 2017.
(With IANS inputs)
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