BSNL Gains Users For Third Consecutive Month, While Jio, Airtel And Vi Struggle Retaining Them Post-July Tariff Hike

India’s major private telecom operators—Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea—continued to witness significant customer losses for the third consecutive month in September, following a tariff hike introduced in early July.

In contrast, state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has emerged as a beneficiary, steadily adding subscribers due to its competitive pricing strategy.

Subscriber Losses for Private Players

Data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) highlights a steep decline in the wireless user base for private telcos. Reliance Jio recorded a loss of 7.9 million wireless users, reducing its subscriber base to 463.78 million in September from 471.74 million in August. 

Vodafone Idea followed with a loss of 1.5 million users, taking its base down to 212.45 million, while Airtel’s user base contracted by 1.4 million to 383.48 million during the same period.

BSNL's Steady Growth

BSNL, unaffected by the tariff hikes, capitalised on the market shift, adding 849,493 new wireless subscribers in September. This growth pushed BSNL’s wireless user base to 91.89 million, compared to 91.04 million in August. The trend underscores a shift of price-sensitive users toward the state-run operator.

Active User Base Trends

While Jio managed a 1.73 million increase in its active user base to 444.49 million, both Airtel and Vodafone Idea saw notable declines. 

Airtel’s active subscribers fell by 1.31 million to 380.68 million, and Vodafone Idea reported a drop of 3.11 million, bringing its active user count to 179.52 million. BSNL also recorded a modest rise in active users, reaching 54.77 million from 53.60 million.

Rural-Urban Dynamics

Urban wireless subscribers decreased to 628.12 million in September from 633.21 million in August, while rural users declined to 525.60 million in September from 530.63 million in August.

Market Share

Despite these setbacks, Jio retained its position as the largest operator with a 40.20 per cent market share, albeit down from 40.53 per cent in August, Airtel settled at 33.24 per cent (33.07 per cent in August) and Vodafone Idea at 18.41 per cent (18.39 per cent in August), while BSNL’s share improved to 7.98 per cent.

The three private telcos had raised mobile rates in the range of 11-25 per cent in early July pushing consumers toward cost-effective alternatives like BSNL.

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