We have the first official telecom report from a government source, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) after Reliance Jio started its commercial operation on 5th September 2016. During the month of September 2016, Reliance Jio added 15.9 million new subscribers to its 4G LTE network. That’s more than seven times the subscriber addition when compared to incumbent telcos. Airtel only managed to add 2.4 million new subscribers, followed by Idea Cellular with 1.9 million new subscriber addition.
The government run telecom operator BSNL maintained its fourth position in the Indian telecom sector. The govt PSU was able to add around 1.4 million new subscribers to its mobile network. According to the latest telecom subscription data as on 30th September 2016, the number of telephone subscribers in India slightly increased and now stands at 1,074.24 million.
Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data (30th September 2016)
- The overall teledensity in India increased to 84.09 at the end of September 2016.
Total wireless subscriber base which also includes the mobile subscribers in the country increased to 1,049.74 million. - Private telecom operators hold 90.72 percent of Indian telecom market share. Whereas the two PSU telecom operators BSNL and MTNL have a market share of 9.28 percent.
- Reliance Jio got a great start and added the maximum number of subscribers to its network, followed by Airtel and Idea Cellular.
- On the losing side, Tata Teleservices lost around 1.2 million subscribers during this period.
- Airtel still holds the top position in India telecom sector with 24.76 percent market share. Followed by Vodafone India with 19.12 percent market share and Idea Cellular with 17.03 percent market share.
- Out of the total wireless subscriber base, 949.17 million wireless subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in the month of September 2016.
- Wireline subscriber base which includes BSNL landline further decreased to 24.49 million.
- In the month of September alone a total of 5 million requests were received for Mobile number portability (MNP).
Highlights of Broadband Data(30th September 2016)
- The number of broadband subscribers, which include both mobile and wired subscribers increased to 192.30 million at the end of September 2016. Thus registering a monthly growth rate of 11.99 percent.
- Taking mobile broadband subscribers alone, Airtel tops the chart with 44.25 million subscribers. Vodafone India stands second with 35.93 million subscribers, followed by Idea cellular with 30.72 million subscribers. Within one month of operation, Reliance Jio stands in the fifth position with 16 million subscribers.
- On wired broadband connection BSNL tops with 9.88 million subscribers, followed by Airtel with 1.94 million subscribers.