Jio Extends Lead Over Airtel In March, Vodafone Idea Loses Another 1.2 Mn Wireless Users

Akash Ambani-led Reliance Jio continued to extend its lead over Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel in March 2023, as India’s largest telecom company gained 3.05 Mn new wireless telecom users.

Meanwhile, Airtel added 1.04 Mn new users, as per the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Debt-laden Vodafone Idea (Vi) continued its losing streak in March, with 1.2 Mn users leaving the network of the country’s third-largest telco. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) also lost about 5,10,000 users in March 2023, while Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) lost 4,02,000 subscribers.

The wireless broadband side of India’s telecom services saw a net addition of nearly 2 Mn new users in March 2023.

“Total wireless subscribers increased from 1,141.96 Mn at the end of February to 1,143.93 Mn at the end of March, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.17%,” TRAI said in a release.

As a result, India’s wireless teledensity increased to 82.46% at the end of March from 82.38% at the end of February.

Urban wireless teledensity increased to 128.45% from 128.41% at the end of February, while rural teledensity increased to 57.46% from 57.39%.

Indian users submitted 11.70 Mn requests for mobile number portability (MNP) in March, bringing the total MNP requests to 819.70 Mn as of March 31, 2023.

Meanwhile, the number of broadband users in the country increased to 846.57 Mn as of March 31, rising 0.86% from the end of February 2023.

Jio Continues To Dominate India’s Telecom Market

In terms of market share, Jio continued to be the undisputed leader in the wireless market, commanding a 37.61% share. It was followed by Airtel, which held a share of 32.42%.

Vi completed the podium with a 20.70% market share, while BSNL held a 9.06% market share. MTNL and Reliance Communications had 0.21% and 0.0002% market share, respectively.

Overall, Jio had 430.23 Mn users as of March 31, 2023. Airtel had 370.91 Mn subscribers, while Vi was at the third spot with 236.75 Mn users. BSNL was in fourth place with 103.68 Mn wireless subscribers.

Jio also dominated the overall broadband market, with the telco securing a market share of 51.80%, including both wireless and wireline broadband users. Airtel secured the second spot with a 28.57% market share, while Vi captured 14.75% of the market at the end of March 2023.

However, the wireline sector was less of a cakewalk for Reliance Jio, as the telco continued to see competition from Airtel and BSNL. In March 2023, Jio bagged 32.09% of wireline users in India, with Airtel and BSNL capturing 25.16% and 25.01% of the market, respectively.

Incidentally, government-owned BSNL and MTNL together captured a 33.15% market share in the wireline market, narrowly beating Jio.

It must be noted that Jio saw its net profit rise 15.6% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 4,984 Cr in the fourth quarter of FY23, as its average revenue per user (ARPU) reached INR 178.8 per month.

Meanwhile, Airtel’s net profit rose 47.9% YoY to INR 3,006 Cr in the quarter ended March 31, 2023. Its ARPU was at INR 193 per month.

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