CHENNAI: With its survival dependent on securing urgently needed capital, telecom service provider Vodafone Idea has lost in April the gains that it had made to its mobile user base during the previous two months.
According to subscription data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Vodafone Idea lost a net 1.81 million mobile subscribers in April, compared to a net gain of 652,625 and 1.09 million users recorded during February and March respectively.
In contrast, its rivals have done far better. TRAI data shows that Reliance Jio added a net 4.75 million mobile users during the month, while Bharti Airtel added 517,237. The Mukesh Ambani-owned Jio widened its lead over Airtel in net subscriber additions during the month—a lead it had only regained in February this year after having trailed behind Airtel for the better part of last year.
The overall segment saw a moderation in net wireless user addition primarily due to the onset of the second wave, analysts noted, though the impact was far less severe than the impact of the first wave. “April was a muted month with net subscriber additions restricted at 2.2 million versus an average of 5.4 million in the last six months,” Emkay Global Securities said.
For Jio, its aggressive push on its new plans for the JioPhone has helped regain momentum, analysts at
Jefferies noted.