J&K impact: Active telecom user base falls in August, shows Trai data

Jio was the only operator to add 7.2 million active subscribers in August 2019

August subscription data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) shows that the number of active telecom subscribers was down following the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) situation, among others.  

This led to a sharp drop in the visitor location registry or VLR (a term used to describe active subscriber base).

Active subscriber base declined by 2.2 million on a month-on-month (MoM) basis to 970.2 million in August 2019, on the back of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea losing customers. Airtel and Vodafone Idea lost 5.7 million and 2.9 million active subscribers, respectively, during the month.

“We understand Bharti’s active subscribers were impacted