Airtel lags Jio in May net additions even as overall subscriber base rises

Jio added 2.7 million mobile and FWA users in May to reach 472.4 million, while Airtel gained just 275,000 subscribers, Trai data show

Reliance Jio continued to dominate the mobile segment in May, adding 2.7 million net subscribers and expanding its combined mobile and 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) base to 472.4 million, PTI reported, citing data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

 

This gave Jio a market share of 40.92 per cent. In contrast, Bharti Airtel added just 275,000 users — about 10 per cent of Jio’s net additions — bringing its total subscriber base to 390 million and a market share of 33.61 per cent.

 

Debt-laden operators continue to lose subscribers

Subscriber growth among private players was offset by declines for debt-ridden and state-owned firms. Vodafone Idea (Vi) lost 274,000 subscribers, while BSNL and MTNL shed 135,000 and 470,000 users respectively. Reliance Communications also saw a marginal decline, losing 30 users.   

 

  India’s total telecom subscriber base rose to 1.207 billion in May, up from 1.203 billion in April. The overall net subscriber gain stood at 4.36 million, of which Jio and Airtel jointly contributed 4.35 million—accounting for 99.84 per cent of all additions.

 

Jio leads in wireline gains; MTNL, BSNL post losses

The wireline segment continued to grow, with fixed-line connections increasing 3.34 per cent to 38.6 million in May. Jio led this category as well, adding 1.276 million subscribers and strengthening its position in the broadband and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) markets.

 

Airtel followed with a net addition of 99,000 users. Other contributors included Tata Teleservices (4,890), Vi (1,795), and STPL (252). However, MTNL reported the largest loss in the wireline segment, shedding 66,834 subscribers, followed by BSNL with a decline of over 46,000.

 

Broadband subscriber base nears 1 billion mark

India’s total broadband subscriber base rose to 974.8 million in May. After a five-month gap, both Jio and Airtel submitted broadband data in the correct format to Trai.   

 

  Jio retained its lead with 494.4 million broadband subscribers across mobile and wireless segments. Airtel followed with 302 million, while Vi recorded 126.6 million. BSNL had 34.3 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies had 2.32 million subscribers.

 

Shift in 5G FWA classification impacts figures

Interestingly, the 5G FWA subscriber count dipped slightly from 7.5 million in April to 7.4 million in May. This decrease followed Jio’s reclassification of over 1 million FWA-UBR (Unlicensed Band Radio) users under its FTTx fixed-line category, indicating a shift in its reporting methodology.

 

(With PTI inputs)