Reliance Jio has celebrated the sale of 16 million free 4G SIMs in September in the Indian telecom market. But some of the rival operators did a better job by adding 4.93 million paid SIM users.

Reliance Jio is struggling to keep pace with the demand of 900 million mobile Indians after creating huge impact on the mindset of mobile Internet users.

The teething troubles at Jio marketing has assisted rival telecoms to grow their business. All the three leading telecom network operators – Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India – added mores subscribers in September than in August. But the main point to note is that Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India added subscribers on 2G, 3G and 4G networks. They do not share specific 4G subscriber base.

Jio 16 mn
Airtel 2.43 mn
Vodafone 0.53 mn
Idea Cellular 1.91 mn
Aircel 0.4 mn
Telenor 0.37 mn
MTNL nil

GSM operators excel

Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, MTNL and Aircel also did not lose subscriber base in September despite the aggressive marketing campaign by Reliance Jio. This trend strongly indicates that Jio is becoming a second SIM for most subscribers.

In fact, the wireless subscriber share of Airtel increased to 33.07 percent from 32.96 percent, while Idea Cellular enhance share to 22.75 percent from 22.65 percent and Aircel retained share at 11.47 percent.

Telenor dropped mobile share to 6.72 percent from 6.82 percent. Vodafone has also lost share to 25.53 percent from 25.64 percent.

Another important fact is that the addition of 4.93 million paid SIM users by GSM operators does not include BSNL and Reliance Communications.

The main activity of GSM operators was in B circle in September 2016.

GSM operators added 0.71 million (0.49 million in August) phone users in metros, 1.52 million (1.13 million) in A circle, 2.17 million (0.20 million) in B circle and 0.52 million (0.26 million) in C circle in the last month.

Both Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel were on an overdrive in terms of mobile subscriber additions in September. Airtel’s mobile user addition was 2.43 million in September against 1.07 million in August. Idea Cellular’s mobile subscriber addition was 1.91 million against 0.26 million in the previous month.

But Airtel and Idea Cellular enhanced their mobile subscriber base significantly in September as compared with previous months.

Why Jio is facing crisis

Retailers are complaining that Jio SIMs are not available to most of them. It is true that several places in states such as UP, Delhi, Maharashtra, Orissa, Kerala, etc. do not have enough retail shops that can sell Jio SIM cards. Jio SIM cards are available in black markets and some retailers are taking Rs 100-400 per SIM.

The poor treatment to some retail shops is prompting these retail shop owners to spread wrong messages about the Jio services. “Jio network is not available in our town and hence we are not selling SIMs. It will take 1-2 years,” one retail shop keeper in Delhi told an aspirant buyer for Jio connection.

Jio customers, who could buy a SIM, are also facing the music due to interconnectivity issues with rival operators. This has resulted into poor mobile experience to some of the 16 million Jio mobile users across the country. “If I cannot make a free call to my friend who is an Airtel connection, what is benefit of adding Jio SIM,” says a Jio customer.

News about dwindling mobile Internet connection at Jio networks has also prompted mobile phone users to stay away from buying Jio SIM cards. The latest app report from TRAI indicates that Airtel is far ahead in 4G mobile Internet speed as compared with Jio. Jio says it will look into the speed and will improve customer experience.

From January onwards, Jio will be charging their mobile phone users for the Internet downloads, while calls and roaming will be free. Vodafone has already removed charges on national incoming calls during roaming. This further diminished the key differences between Jio and its rivals.

The management of Jio may need more free offers and ensure the availability of SIMs across the country to take on big operators such as Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone. Jio will grow if the 4G smartphone numbers pick up. When?

Baburajan K
[email protected]