Jio Tops Once Again In Subscription Race, Onboards 6.5 Lakh Users In August

Reliance Jio continues to race ahead of the other telecom operators in the country in terms of subscriber base as it added nearly 6.5 Lakh new users in the month of August.

Jio’s subscriber base stood at over 44 Cr (44,38,61,244) by the end of August, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Bharti Airtel was the only other telco to have added new subscribers during the period under review, as the debt-laden Vodafone Idea and the government-run BSNL eroded their respective user base.

Airtel added over 1.38 Lakh new users, taking its subscriber base to over 35.41 Cr.

On the other hand, Vodafone Idea and BSNL lost 8.33 Lakh and 61,778 users, taking their total subscribers to over 27.10 Cr and 11.42 Cr respectively.

Jio, led by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries has been eating up the market share of other incumbents since it entered the Indian telecom scenario in 2016 with its disruptive low tariffs.

With its much anticipated “affordable” JioPhone Next, developed in collaboration with Google, the Ambani-led telecom-to-tech major is expected to consolidate its position further in the telecom market.

The phone was initially set to launch on the 10th of September, but the ongoing semiconductor-chip shortage and global supply chain issues seemed to have pushed that date further, and now it’s speculated to be launched around Diwali.

In August, India witnessed a marginal decline in subscription of wireless telecom services. Total wireless subscribers decreased from 118.68 Cr at the end of July 2021 to 118.67 Cr at the end of August 2021.

Jio is also among the top players in terms of subscribers for broadband services. As on August 31, 2021, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 44.38 Cr subscribers, Bharti Airtel (20.22 Cr), Vodafone Idea (12.35 Cr), BSNL (1.82 Cr) and Tikona Infinet Ltd. (3 Lakh).

State-run BSNL topped among the players in the wired broadband market with 54.9 Lakh users, followed by Jio (37.1 Lakh), Bharti Airtel (36.9 Lakh), Atria Convergence Technologies (19.5 lakh) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (10.8 Lakh).

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