\tReliance Jio was the only major operator in India to add subscribers in the first quarter of 2019, with its two main rivals losing a combined 39 million sequentially, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed.<\/p>\n
The operator picked up 27 million mobile subs during the quarter to end March with 307 million. Year-on-year the figure increased by 120 million, boosting its market share to 26.4 per cent compared with 15.8 per cent at end-March 2018<\/p>\n
Market leader Vodafone Idea’s subscribers dropped by 24 million sequentially to 395 million (notably, TRAI’s figure is significantly higher than the 334.1 million the operator itself reported [1] at end-March).<\/p>\n
At end-March 2018, before the companies merged, they had a combined user base of 434 million.<\/p>\n
Its market share stood at 34 per cent at the close of the recent quarter, compared with a collective 36.7 per cent at end Q1 2018.<\/p>\n
Following campaigns to reduce the number of low-value subscribers, TRAI said Bharti Airtel lost 15 million subs in Q1, closing the period with 325 million (the operator did not disclose figures in a recent earnings report).<\/p>\n
If accurate, the figure is up from 304 million at end Q1 2018, but its market share still declined from 28 per cent to 25.7 per cent.<\/p>\n
TRAI figures showed the country\u2019s wireless teledensity fell from 91.1 per cent in Q1 2018 to 88.5 per cent at end-March 2019, with mobile subs declining by 21.6 million to 1.16 billion.<\/p>\n
The regulator noted some operators deducted inactive subscribers from their totals. A directive issued in 2017 advised operators to strictly adhere to the Department of Telecommunications\u2019 methodology for reporting their number of subscribers, however TRAI said some operators have yet to comply.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/asia\/asia-news\/vodafone-idea-losses-narrow-as-arpu-climbs\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reliance Jio was the only major operator in India to add subscribers in the first …<\/p>\n
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