Telecom subscribers in India dip to 1,170 mn in Oct: TRAI

The number of telephone subscribers witnessed a decline to 1,170 million in October, as against 1,171.92 million in September, thereby showing a monthly decline rate of 0.12%, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). During the month, the urban telecom subscriber base declined by 0.25% to 649.99 million in October 2022, as against 651.66 million in September this year. Rural telecom subscribers, however, surged by 0.03% to 520.46 million in October, as against 520.30 million in September.

During the month, as many as 11.81 million subscribers submitted their requests for mobile number portability (MNP). Owing to this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 748.11 million in September to 759.92 million in October.

In terms of the active user base, India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio added 4.9 million active users in October with the company’s active user base surging to 391 million. In comparison, Bharti Airtel’s active user base shrunk to 358 million as the company lost one million users during the month. On the other hand, beleaguered telecom operator Vodafone Idea lost 0.5 million subscribers with its active user base declining to 212 million.

The number of active wireless subscribers in October stood at 1,016.81 million. The total wireless subscribers declined 0.16% to 1,143.63 million in October as against 1,145.5 million in September. While wireless subscriptions in urban areas witnessed a decline of 0.31% , wireless subscriptions in rural areas surged by 0.03%. The wireless subscription in urban areas stood at 652.18 million in October this year, as against 627.14 million in September, and the wireless subscription in rural areas stood at 518.45 million in October as against 627.14 million in September.

As on October 31, 2022, the private service providers held a 90.24% market share of wireless subscribers whereas BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, had a market share of only 9.76%. Amongst the private service providers, Reliance Jio held the largest market share at 36.85%, followed by Bharti Airtel which held a 31.92% market share. Vodafone-idea Limited held a 21.48% market share for wireless subscribers.

During the month, the wireline subscribers in the country stood at 26.82 million as against 26.47 million in September. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.35 million with a monthly growth rate of 1.32%. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 92.50% and 7.50% respectively at the end of October 2022.

In terms of wireline market share, Reliance Jio held the largest market share at 29.45%, followed by BSNL, and Bharti Airtel at 26.45% and 24.27%, respectively, The wireline market share for MTNL, Tata Telecommunications, and Vodafone Idea Limited stood at 9.59%, 5.86%, and 2.65%, respectively.