Around 215 million wireless subscribers will be looking for shifting their mobile operators if the lack of financial stability at Reliance Communications, Aircel and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) continue.

The main beneficiary of possible shifting of the 215 million mobile phone users will be Airtel, Reliance Jio and Idea-Vodafone. However, grabbing a major portion of the 215 million users will be a relatively huge task for Reliance Jio, the only pan-India 4G operator, because it needs wireless users with a 4G phone.

215 million is a big number for these three telecom giants in India. 215 million is above the total subscribers of Idea Cellular or Vodafone. For Airtel and Jio, this is like buying Idea Cellular or Vodafone without their employees, spectrum and infrastructure — without paying any single money.

Reliance Communications, a company promoted by Anil Ambani, is looking for financial support to turn around the loss making telecom operations. Aircel could be looking for a suitable partner. Tata Teleservices is on the verge of closing down its telecom operations across India.

Following the collapse of the merger talks between Reliance Communications and Aircel, both will be reducing manpower. Around 5,000 jobs will be impacted due to the closure of Tata Teleservices.

Financial viability of Reliance Jio, Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone is also under stress due to hyper competition.

Baburajan K