Airtel tops Jio in wireless additions, Vi’s loss narrows: Trai data

Bharti Airtel Ltd added more wireless customers to its network than Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd in August as the economy continued to open up, with some activities nearing pre-Covid levels. However, Vodafone Idea lost 1.2 million subscribers, shedding customers for the tenth straight month, but less than the previous months because of disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Airtel added 2.9 million customers in August, while rival Jio signed up 1.9 million subscribers, as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data released on Tuesday.

Airtel gained 0.91% market share of wireless subscribers, while Jio’s user base grew by 0.47% in August. At 35.08%, Jio remains the largest telecom player by market share followed by Airtel at 28.12% and Vodafone Idea at 26.15%, the Trai data showed.

Total wireless subscribers increased to 1.15 billion in August from 1.14 billion in July, a monthly growth of 0.3%.

Wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 620.7 million at the end of July to 624.9 million in August, while it fell in rural areas from 523.5 million to 522.9 million, indicating reverse migration of workers.

Airtel is yet to see full influx of migrant workers to cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai, according to a top official at the telco. Migrant workers had returned to their native places after the lockdown in March.

Fixed-line subscribers rose by 66,771 to 19.9 million at the end of August.