According to a research note by Motilal Oswal, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) continued to gain active users in August 2024, while Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) suffered losses due to tariff hikes undertaken by private sector telecom operators in July 2024.
The note mentioned that by contrast, Jio added 2 million visitor location register (VLR) subscribers in August, indicating its decline was limited to its inactive user base. Active, or VLR data published by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) indicates the number of mobile users regularly using a mobile network. Industry-wide, the active subscriber base inched up by 2 million month- on-month (MoM) (vs 1.5 million decline in July 2024). BSNL gained 2.5 million wireless subscribers largely from Jio, Airtel, and Vi.
As per the report, Airtel’s mobile broadband (MBB) net additions moderated to 0.4 million in August (as compared to approximately 2.6 million net add on average in financial year till date 2024-2025), while Vi’s MBB subs declined by a further 0.8 million MoM in August 2024.
It noted that the industry’s MBB net adds moderated to 2.6 million in August 2024 (compared to approximately 5 million monthly MBB net adds on average in financial year till date 2024-2025) as BSNL’s robust 6.6 million MBB net adds were offset by Jio’s subscriber base decline.
