Datanomics: Vi's revenue market share drops sharply since 2018 merger

Despite a modest rise in quarterly revenue, Vodafone Idea continues to lose ground in India's telecom market as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel consolidate dominance

Vodafone Idea (Vi) reported a 3 per cent rise in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025-26, in results released on Saturday. Yet the broader trend tells a different story. Vi's revenue market share stood at 11.48 per cent in Q3 FY26, down from 29.26 per cent at the time of its 2018 merger — the steepest decline among the top three telecom operators, which together hold over 95 per cent of the market. Earlier this month, Vodafone Group was reported to be weighing a stake transfer to shore up Vi's finances.

 

The telecom sector expanded sharply over the past 15 years, with AGR rising 2.5 times between 2009-10 and 2024-25. Reliance Jio's entry in 2016 and subsequent mergers — including Vodafone-Idea and Telenor-Airtel in 2018 — pushed teledensity past 90 per cent during 2016-19. 

 

Since the merger, Vi has shed nearly 61 per cent of its revenue market share by Q3 FY26, even as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel grew their shares by 39 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively. 

 

Vi's subscriber base has halved since the merger, while Reliance Jio's has nearly doubled.