Jio, Vodafone lose subscribers, Airtel gains in Jan, shows Trai data

Mobile companies took a 20% tariff hike in prepaid plans towards November-end, which has resulted in consolidation of SIM cards

Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea reported a month on month fall in mobile subscribers while Bharti Airtel reported gains in January as per data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday.

Reliance Jio, the country’s largest mobile service provider, saw a drop for the second consecutive month as its customer base declined by 9.3 million to 406.3 million. Vodafone Idea continued its losing streak as it shed 389,082 subscribers. It ended the month at 265.12 million customers. Airtel’s subscriber numbers increased by 714,199 to 356.4 million.

Mobile companies took a 20 per cent tariff hike in prepaid plans towards the end of November that has resulted in consolidation of SIM cards. Following its third quarter result in February, Jio had also said its repurposing its customer retention efforts aimed to improve the quality of base and to reduce its costs.