Reliance Jio adds 37 lakh subscribers in May; Airtel, Vodafone Idea lose 47 lakh users each

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio is on the roll as it continues to lead the wireless subscriber tally in the domestic market.  As per the latest data by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio added 36.57 lakh subscribers in May 2020, while rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea lost 47.42 lakh and 47.26 lakh users, respectively.

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) added 2.02 lakh subscribers during the month under review, while MTNL lost 1,528 users, the data showed.

In terms of subscriber market share for wireless services, Reliance Jio continues to dominate with 34.33 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel at 27.78 per cent and Vodafone Idea at 27.09 per cent share as on May 31, 2020. The private service providers held 89.21 per cent market share of the wireless subscribers whereas government-owned BSNL and MTNL had a market share of just 10.79 per cent.

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As per the report, telecom industry lost 57.6 lakh subscribers during May, which was preceded by a loss of 82 lakh connections in April as coronavirus-triggered nationwide lockdown kept customer additions under pressure. Telephone subscribers in India decreased from 116.94 crore in April to 116.37 crore at the end of May, registering a monthly decline rate of 0.49 per cent.

"All service areas showed decline except Kerala and Bihar in their wireless subscribers during the month of May. Kerala service area showed maximum growth of 0.39 per cent in their wireless subscriber during the month," Trai said.

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In urban areas, users fell by 1.44 per cent to 93.4 lakh, while it rose by 0.68 per cent to 35.7 lakh subscribers in rural areas. The share of rural and urban subscribers in total number of telephone users in May was 45.19 per cent and 54.81 per cent, respectively. The rise in telecom subscription in rural area was driven by migration of workers from urban to rural areas due to coronavirus lockdown.

In May, 29.8 lakh subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). With this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 48.82 crore at the end of April to 49.12 crore at the end of May, since implementation of MNP, Trai said.

Number of active wireless subscribers stood at 96.08 crore in May, 2020. The proportion of active wireless subscribers was approximately 83.99 per cent of the total wireless subscriber base.

By Chitranjan Kumar