Reliance Jio – the top telecom provider in India led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, had 47.17 crore subscribers in August, which shrunk to 46.37 crore in the month of September, a loss of 7.9 million (79 lakh) users.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea — the country’s top three telecom network providers took a major hit after they increased their tariffs back in June this year. According to TRAI data, the trio lost a combined 1.08 crore users in September 2024, with Jio suffering the biggest blow, losing over 79 lakh subscribers.
Mukesh Ambani’s Jio biggest loser
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data revealed that Reliance Jio – the top telecom provider in India led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, had 47.17 crore subscribers in August, which shrunk to 46.37 crore in the month of September, a loss of 7.9 million (79 lakh) users.
The drop in subscribers for the top three providers was witnessed for the third consecutive month, according to TRAI.
As per the regulator’s data, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea (Vi), the second and third largest network providers in the country, respectively, also lost a substantial number of users, with around 15 lakh subscribers dumping Vi losing, while over 14 lakh saying adios to Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel.
In August, Vi had a total of 21.40 crore customers, which came down to 21.24 crore in September, while Airtel’s subscriber base was reduced to 38.34 crore users, the telecom regulator revealed.
BSNL emerges as winner
Meanwhile, while all the top private players lost a significant chunk of their subscribers, state-owned BSNL emerged emerged as the real gainer as its subscriber base swelled by 8.49 lakh, reaching 9.18 crore users in September.
According to recent data released by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), BSNL, which has witnessed a resurgence of late, adding over 65 lakh new subscribers to its expanding network in the last two months.
Earlier this year, Jio, Airtel, and Vi, hiked their tariffs by 10 to 21 percent in late June, resulting in millions of subscribers switching to BSNL in wake of the exorbitant tariff prices. With its competitive pricing, BSNL is now posing a stiff challenge to industry leaders such as Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Airtel.
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