Has Reliance Jio lost glory in new 4G subscriber additions?

Reliance Jio reported operating revenue of Rs 13,968 crore (+28 percent), EBITDA of Rs 5,601 (+38 percent) with EBITDA margin of 40 percent during the December quarter of 2019.
Mukesh Ambani on Reliance Jio digital lifeReliance Jio has added 37.1 million new 4G subscribers during the third quarter but it lost 22.3 million connections, resulting into a net addition of 14.8 million. Reliance Jio hiked its tariffs in the first week of December.

“Elimination of 22 million subscribers during the quarter, primarily excessively heavy voice users, was due to implementation of IUC tariffs due to regulatory uncertainty,” Reliance Jio said in a statement on Friday, announcing its financial results.

4G subscriber base of Reliance Jio as on 31 December 2019 reached 370 million (+32.1 percent). Reliance Jio’s mobile ARPU during the quarter reached Rs 128.4 per subscriber per month. The low ARPU indicates that Reliance Jio is still unable to tap several million post-paid mobile phone subscribers on to its 4G network.

Reliance Jio reported wireless data traffic of 1,208 crore GB (+39.9 percent), indicating that Indian smartphone customers are heavily relying on 4G network of the Mukesh Ambani-promoted company. Voice traffic during the quarter rose 30.3 percent to 82,640 crore minutes during the quarter.

Reliance Jio in a statement said it achieved strong gross addition of 37.1 million during the quarter and 135.7 million during the previous twelve months with wider 4G network presence and attractive bundling of Jio digital services as key differentiators.

Reliance Jio said it is committed to drive 2G to 4G transition across the country making affordable data services available to all Indians.

The telecom operator noted that it has continued on its unprecedented growth journey receiving overwhelming customer response for mobile connectivity services.

Jio is determined to redefine the wireline infrastructure, home entertainment and enterprise market in India with its FTTx services which bundle connectivity with bouquet of digital content and services,” Mukesh D. Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, said.