CHENNAI: Both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea registered a massive fall in their net subscriber counts at the end of May, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released on Thursday. However, in stark contrast, rival Reliance Jio continued to add to its subscriber base during the month.
Data shows that for the first time since June 2020, Bharti Airtel recorded a net loss of wireless subscribers in May, losing a staggering 46.13 lakh net users. Vodafone Idea, which has been struggling with serious financial difficulties, also lost a net 42.81 lakh mobile users, while BSNL lost 9.3 lakh. It is to be noted that most of India had been facing stringent lockdowns during late April and the whole of May due to the second Covid wave.
However, Reliance Jio, which had recovered its user addition momentum early this year, recorded a net wireless subscriber addition of 35.54 lakh. In total, across telecos, India’s wireless subscriber base recorded a net loss of 62.74 lakh in May.