As per the latest subscriber data issued by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Reliance Jio lost 12.9 million 4G subscribers in December 2021, dragging its gross user base down to 415.71 million.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel added 0.47 million wireless customers, taking its gross user base to 355.76 million. Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi), on the other hand, lost another 1.61 million, lowering its user base further to 265.51 million, reflecting its continuing struggles on the 4G operations front.
Jio had recently reported 8.5 million drop in its customer base during the quarter ended December 2021, which partly boosted its average revenue per user (ARPU). The ARPU grew by 6 per cent sequentially to around Rs 152.
The press release by TRAI showed that Airtel and Vi marginally widened customer market shares to 30.81 per cent (from 30.43 per cent) and 23 per cent (from 22.88 per cent) respectively in December 2021, while Jio’s narrowed to 36 per cent (from 36.71 per cent). Jio lost nearly 6 million users in rural India in December 2021. Bharti Airtel and Vi, by contrast, suffered fewer rural user losses at 1.18 million and 0.97 million, respectively.
