NEW DELHI: Reliance Jio strengthened its position in India’s telecom market in September, adding 1.9 million core mobile subscribers compared with just 0.2 million by Bharti Airtel, according to figures attributed to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Analyst reports cited in the data showed that India’s core mobile subscriber base, excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, grew by 2.2 million month-on-month to approximately 1.15 billion. Jio accounted for nearly nine out of every 10 net additions, significantly outpacing its closest rival.
At the end of September, Jio had 511.14 million subscribers, compared with Airtel’s 494.29 million, maintaining its lead in the market.
Airtel’s addition of 0.2 million core mobile subscribers marked its weakest monthly expansion in recent months. Analysts attributed the slowdown partly to the withdrawal of its affordable ₹299 prepaid plan in August, which may have affected its ability to attract and retain price-sensitive customers.
Although Airtel recorded 2.69 million gross wireless subscriber additions, its much smaller gain in core mobile users suggests that a significant portion of the additions may have come from M2M connections rather than regular mobile subscribers.
The gap was also evident in active subscriber numbers. The industry-wide core Visitor Location Register (VLR) base grew by 0.6 million in September, while Jio alone added 1.3 million active users.
Airtel, by contrast, lost 0.2 million active subscribers during the month, while Vodafone Idea shed 0.3 million. The figures highlighted Jio’s stronger performance in expanding its active user base during the period.
September’s figures underline Jio’s continued lead in both total core mobile subscribers and monthly net additions. Its performance also highlights the challenge facing Airtel as it seeks to revive growth following changes to its prepaid offerings.
With Jio accounting for the overwhelming majority of the industry’s net core mobile subscriber additions during the month, the latest fig
