Reliance Jio Dominates India’s Telecom Growth in September with 1.9 Million New Subscribers

Market Overview

India's telecommunications sector recorded a net increase of 2.2 million mobile subscribers in September, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The total wireless subscriber base, excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, reached 1.155 billion, representing a significant year-on-year growth of 22.8 million users.

Operator Performance Breakdown

Reliance Jio maintained its market leadership by capturing the vast majority of the month's net growth:

• Reliance Jio: Added 1.9 million core mobile users, bringing its total base to approximately 483 million. The company has added 17.4 million users over the past year.
• Bharti Airtel: Experienced a slowdown, with net additions falling to 200,000, reaching a total base of 406 million.
• Vodafone Idea (Vi): Continued to face challenges, recording a loss of approximately 300,000 subscribers, an increase in churn compared to the previous month.
• BSNL: Remained a positive outlier, adding roughly 500,000 mobile subscribers for the second month in a row, helping stabilize industry figures.

Active Subscriber Trends (VLR)

Visitor Location Register (VLR) data, which tracks active network connections, provided a clearer picture of usage trends. Jio gained 1.3 million active users, whereas Airtel saw a decline of 200,000 active subscribers, and Vi lost 300,000.

Broadband Expansion

In the wired and fixed-broadband segment, the total subscriber base grew by 600,000, reaching 68.1 million. Jio led this growth by adding 400,000 connections, while Airtel added 200,000.

Verification

For official updates, readers should consult the monthly subscriber reports published on the official Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) website.