Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released mobile subscriber data for the month of October 2020.
Gross subscribers increased by 3.2 million month-on-month to 1.15 billion in October 2020 vs 0.7 million additions in September 2020.
Active mobile subscribers rose by 2.5 million in October 2020 to 961 million, highlighting mobile user consolidation in the telecom sector, according to Motilal Oswal report.
Indian telecom operators have lost 9 million gross subscribers since the implementation of the coronavirus-led nationwide lockdown in March 2020.
MBB subscriber additions slows
Mobile broadband subscriber additions slowed to 8 million in October 2020 to reach 713 million vs 9.5 million additions in September 2020. MBB subscribers now account for 74 percent of total active subscribers in India.
Airtel
Airtel has added 3.7 million / 3 million gross / active mobile subscribers to 330 million / 320 million in October 2020.
Airtel has added 4.2 million mobile broadband subscribers as compared with Reliance Jio’s 2.2 million, taking up 59 percent incremental subscriber market share.
Airtel continued with its strong (3 million) active subscriber additions, while Jio added 1.1 million in October 2020.
Airtel added 3 million active subscribers and reached 320 million subscribers in October 2020 vs 3.8 million additions in September 2020.
Airtel regained its top position in active SMS with 33.3 percent share (up 30bp MoM). Overall, Airtel has added a total of 5.1m active subscribers since March 2020.
Airtel has added 3.7 million gross subscribers to reach 330 million vs 3.8 million additions in September 2020 and 2.5 million cumulative additions since March 2020. The quality of subscribers is reflected in its strong MBB subscriber additions of 4.2 million vs Jio’s 2.2 million, taking up 59 percent incremental subscriber market share.
Jio
Jio’s monthly gross of mobile broadband subscriber additions has slowed to ~2 million for the last three months, with 2.2 million additions in October 2020 v/s an average ~7 million in FY20. Active subscriber additions of Jio have continued to lag gross subscribers at 1.1 million.
Jio continued to add 2.2 million gross subscribers to touch 406 million in October 2020 vs 1.5 million additions in September 2020. Its gross SMS grew to 35.3 percent (up 10bp MoM). Jio continues to retain the top spot with a 35.3 percent market share.
Vodafone Idea
Idea lost 2.7 million subscribers in October 2020. Idea has lost 26 million gross subscribers since April 2020.
Vodafone Idea’s losing streak in gross / active subscribers continued, though the fall decelerated to 2.7 million / 1.2 million in October 2020 after a loss of 4.7 million / 3.4 million in September 2020. Gross / active SMS fell 30bp/20bp MoM to 25.4 percent / 27.1 percent.
Vodafone Idea’s mobile broadband subscriber additions slowed to 8.1 million to 713 million vs 9.5 million in September 2020, with MBB subscribers now accounting for 74.2 percent of active subscribers.
