New Delhi: Mobile subscriber base of Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel shrunk by nearly 14.5 million (mn) and 15.1 mn, respectively, as of March over the previous month, while Reliance Jio added 9.4 mn users in the month, according to the TRAI data. India’s total wireless subscriber base fell to 1,161.8 mn on March 31, 2019, shedding 21.87 mn users over the previous month.
The overall tele-density in India declined to 90.11 at the end of March, from 91.86 in February. According to TRAI, the wireless subscriber base of Vodafone Idea at the end of March 2019 was 394.8 mn. The company in its quarterly results for the last quarter of 2018-19 had shown the total user base at 334.1 mn. Bharti Airtel’s mobile subscriber base was 325.1 mn, and that of rival Reliance Jio was 306.7 mn as on March 2019.
“Total wireless subscribers declined from 1,183.68 mn at the end of Feb-19 to 1,161.81 mn at the end of Mar-19, thereby registering a monthly decline rate of 1.85 per cent,” said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report released on Tuesday. The wireless subscription in urban areas declined to 650.49 mn in March end from 656.57 mn in February end, and rural user base also plunged to 511.32 mn from 527.11 mn during the period.
Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel together shed 29.6 mn users by March-end compared to February. Market analysts noted that in certain cases, the subscriber tally difference between regulator’s data and those cited by the companies is on account of the different measurement used for computing wireless subscribers base.
While TRAI data takes into consideration live connections in a 90-day period, operators’ calculations are based on active customers as on March 31, 2019, and factors in the impact of minimum recharge plan, market watchers pointed out. The customers base of Reliance Jio, owned by richest Indian Mukesh Ambani was 306.7 mn as on March 2019, against 297.2 mn as on February. Overall , India’s broadband subscriber base rose to 563.1 mn in March.
