Reliance Jio pips Airtel to become India’s 2nd largest mobile operator in May: TRAI

Reliance Jio, the newest entrant in the telecom sector, haspiped Bharti Airtel to become the second largest mobile operator with 32.29 croresubscribers and 27.80 per cent market share in May, according to regulatorTRAI’s data.

The move assumes significance as Reliance Jio stormed intothe highly-competitive telecom sector in September 2016 with its disruptivevoice and data offerings, while Bharti Airtel had launched its services wayback in 1995.

   

As per the latest data released by Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (TRAI), Vodafone Idea – born last year from the merger ofolder operators Vodafone India and Idea Cellular – continues to be the largestoperator with 38.75 crore consumers and 33.36 per cent market share in thewireless segment as on May 31, 2019.

Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Airtel has slipped to the thirdspot with 32.03 crore mobile subscribers and 27.58 per cent subscriber marketshare during the month.

Reliance Jio added 81.80 lakh new subscribers (on a netbasis) in May and ended the month with 27.80 per cent market share and 32.29crore subscribers.

Interestingly, cash-strapped telecom PSU Bharat SancharNigam Ltd (BSNL), that is awaiting a relief package from the government and hasundertaken severe cost-cutting measures – added 2,125 wireless subscribersduring May.

Established players like Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel –which have introduced minimum recharge schemes in their quest to chase higherARPUs (average revenues per user) and improve financials – lost subscribers, at56.97 lakh and 15.08 lakh users, respectively.

The change in pecking order in May contrasts with therankings in April 2019 when Bharti Airtel was the second largest mobileoperator with 32.18 crore subscribers and 27.69 per cent share of the overallwireless market. Reliance Jio, in April, had trailed the older operator andheld the third spot with 31.48 crore subscribers and 27.08 market market share.

Vodafone Idea, in April too was the largest operator inIndia, by a wide margin, with 39.32 crore subscribers and 33.83 per cent of theoverall wireless market, last month’s data put out by TRAI showed.

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