As per the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) lost 7.96 million, 1.43 million and 1.55 million mobile users respectively in September 2024. However, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) gained 0.84 million users in the same period.
Separately, Jio further consolidated its market leadership in the wireline space in September 2024. TRAI data showed that Jio added 0.63 million wireline users, boosting its landline user base to 14.99 million. Meanwhile, BSNL lost 52,445 wireline users. In addition, Airtel added 98,637 users, taking its wireline user base to around 9.32 million.
Further, the month of September 2024 witnessed Jio narrowing its customer market share to 40.20 per cent (from 40.53 per cent in August 2024), while Airtel’s market share widened at 33.24 per cent from 33.07 in the previous month. Similarly, Vi’s widened further to 18.41 per cent as against 18.39 per cent the previous month.
Besides, TRAI data showed that Jio, Airtel and Vi lost customers in rural India. Jio lost 3.2 million in these geographies, Airtel lost 0.91 million and Vi lost around 1.2 million. The data released by the regulator also showed that overall wireless tele-density decreased marginally to 82.07 per cent in September 2024 from 82.85 per cent in August 2024.
During September 2024, 13.32 million users submitted requests for mobile number portability (MNP), increasing the cumulative requests to 1039.11 million by end-September 2024 from 1025.78 million by end-August 2024. The wireline user base increased from 36.23 million at the end of August 2024 to 36.93 million at the end of September 2024, registering a net increase of 0.70 million.
