Voda Idea's subscriber growth surprises analysts, based on one UP region

Western UP alone accounted for over 3.7 million of the 3.8 million plus gross subscriber addition in January

Vodafone Idea (Vi) reported growth in subscriber base for first time in 14 months, but the bigger surprise for analysts was the fact that the bulk of this growth came from one region alone, western Uttar Pradesh.
 
Four regions (Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh) contributed to positive growth, but western UP alone accounted for over 3.7 million of the 3.8 million gross subscriber additions in January.
 
Its total subscriber addition in January was 1.7 million as the telecom company lost over 2.1 million subscribers in eighteen other regions.
 
Vi had a total of 286 million wireless customers as of January and trailed its rivals Reliance Jio and Airtel. Jio and Airtel added 1.95 million and 5.89 million customers, respectively, in January.  However, the companies added 175,000 and 280,000 customers, respectively, in western UP.
 
Vi cut its customer loss in the third quarter as it shed two million customers, compared with eight million in Q2. Network integration benefits, brand initiatives and better 4G speeds helped Vi grow its base and add 4G customers, though at a slower pace than its rivals. In January, the company added 1.9 million data subscribers, the highest in four months, according to Emkay Global research. However, the January data also shows the growth is highly uneven.
 
“Possibly, Vodafone Idea’s growth came from sales initiative as the company incentivised customer recharges. But the growth has come from only one region and we would need to wait and see for another two-three months,” said a telecom sector expert.
 
Others said the next two-three months would be crucial and the impact of Jio’s new bundling offers will be seen on the competition. In February, Jio launched new schemes offering customers a new handset and two years of unlimited service for Rs 1,999.