TelecomTalk reported the overall subscriber addition by the telcos during August 2022. The data was taken from the monthly performance indicator report published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Now, let’s take a look at the thing that matters more than overall subscribers - the active subscribers. Telcos earn their money from active subscribers, and thus, the higher the number of active users, the better it is for the business. Right now, we are going to compare the active users added or lost in August 2022 by the four telecom operators in India - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Active Subscribers of Airtel, Jio, BSNL and Vi at the End of August 2022
Airtel and Jio added new active users. Jio added 2.46 million new active users in the wireless category, while Airtel added 1.49 million new active wireless users. BSNL and Vodafone Idea lost 1.04 million and 2.63 million active wireless users. Vodafone Idea’s active wireless user base is coming very close to the 200 million figure. Jio and Airtel are clearly gaining at the cost of BSNL and Vi. BSNL doesn’t have 4G networks, but Vi does. Yet Vi hasn’t been able to capitalise on the existing network business and show some subscriber addition.
