Reliance Jio added 6.1 million mobile subscribers in November: Trai

However, total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & LTE) declined to 1,162.47 mn

Reliance Jio, along with Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, continue to add a good number of subscribers to their respective bases but despite that overall additions turned negative because operators like Reliance Communications, Aircel, Tata Teleservices lost users in large numbers.

As per data shared by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & LTE) declined to 1,162.47 million at the end of November from 1,178.20 million in October, registering a monthly decline rate of 1.33 per cent.

The decline in overall wireless base happened despite Reliance Jio adding 6.11 million subscribers in November followed by Bharti Airtel, which added 4.34 million customers, Vodafone too increased its base by 2.70 million whereas Idea Cellular's customer base rose by 3.19 million. State-run BSNL too added 1.08 million subscribers during the reported period.

However, the loss of 25.75 million subscribers from Reliance Communications, along with 2.20 million users of Tata Teleservices who exited the network, and another 1.24 million from Telenor, the overall user base declined. Aircel also lost 665,916 subscribers and Sistema Shyam Teleservices subscriber base was thinner by 3.28 million. RCom, which had merged with Sistema Shyam Teleservices has already declared to close down its wireless business and selling its assets to Reliance Jio. Aircel too is scaling down its business whereas Tata Teleservices had announced to merge with Bharti Airtel.