Jio loses 3.76 mn wireless subscribers in Oct but tops up on 'active' users

India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio lost 3.76 million wireless subscribers in October but spruced up its active mobile subscriber base by adding 3.847 million users, as per monthly data released by telecom regulator Trai on Monday.

Overall, Bharti Airtel added 1.928 million users to its wireless coffers during the month and its active subscriber gains were about 2.723 million for October.

Vodafone Idea lost 1.977 million wireless subscribers and its active subscriber base fell nearly 723,000 users.

Overall, so far as headline numbers are concerned, Reliance Jio's total wireless tally slipped to 460 million in October down from about 463.7 million in September, although its active user base (a key monitorable for telcos) strengthened.

The total wireless user base of Vodafone Idea fell to 210.4 million in October from 212.4 million in the previous month.

In all, the total number of active wireless subscribers in the month under review was 1,066.67 million (106.6 crore), as per Trai's sectoral data.

According to Trai release, the total broadband subscribers decreased to 941.47 million at the end of October 2024 with a monthly decline rate of 0.31 per cent.

"The number of total telephone subscribers in India decreased from 1,190.66 million at the end of September '24 to 1,188.20 million at the end of October '24, showing a monthly decline rate of 0.21 per cent. Urban telephone subscription decreased from 662.15 million at the end of Sep-24 to 660.42 million at the end of Oct-24 and the rural subscription also decreased from 528.51 million to 527.79 million during the same period," Trai said.

The monthly decline rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.26 per cent and 0.14 per cent, respectively, during October 2024, it added.