NEW DELHI: For the first time in recent history, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) added a remarkable 2.94 million new subscribers in July 2024, while private telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea saw substantial subscriber losses.
This shift follows a tariff hike of up to 25 per cent announced by the private telecom companies.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Bharti Airtel lost 1,694,300 subscribers, Vodafone Idea shed 1,413,910 subscribers, and Jio experienced a decline of 758,463 subscribers. BSNL’s market share increased from 7.33 per cent in June 2024 to 7.59 per cent in July 2024.
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While Reliance Jio experienced a slight decline in market share, dropping from 40.71 per cent in June to 40.68 per cent in July, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea saw more significant decreases, falling from 33.23 per cent to 33.12 per cent and from 18.56 per cent to 18.46 per cent, respectively.
Overall, the number of wireless subscribers in India decreased from 1,170.53 million at the end of June to 1,169.61 million at the end of July, reflecting a monthly decline rate of 0.08 per cent.
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Urban wireless subscriptions increased slightly from 635 million to 635.46 million, while rural subscriptions fell from 535.53 million to 534.15 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates for urban and rural wireless subscriptions were 0.07 per cent and -0.26 per cent, respectively.
Additionally, mobile number portability (MNP) requests rose by nearly 2 million in July 2024, totaling 13.68 million, compared to 11.84 million requests in June.
