State-owned telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has grown its subscriber base over first half of this financial year (April to September) at the cost of private players including Bharti Airtel (Airtel), Reliance Jio (Jio) and Vodafone-Idea (VIL).

Airtel’s subscriber number has fallen to 384.9 million at the end of September from 386.5 million in April. Similarly, Jio’s customer base has come down to 463.7 million customers by the end of September as compared with 472.4 million subscribers in April this year. VIL’s subscriber base has also fallen to 212.4 million as of September as compared with 219 million customers in April.

BSNL’s subscriber base, which used to be 86.8 million in April, this year, has gone up to 91.8 million as of September 30, 2024.

According to data from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the subscriber base of these private players kept declining from from June onwards whereas that of BSNL kept increasing from the same month.

In June, Jio’s subscriber base which was recorded at 476.5 million which came down to 475.7 million in July and further to 471.7 million in August. Similarly, Airtel’s subscriber base that was 389 million in June declined to 387.3 million in July and further to 384.9 million in August. VIL’s also lost from 217.2 million in June to 215.8 in July and 214 million in August.

Tariff hikes effective

According to analysts tracking the sector, the main reason for these private players to lose customers was their tariff hikes effective July, while BSNL launched cheaper plans and did not raise any tariffs.

“Private operators have been revising tariffs by increasing the subscription charges which is making it difficult for subscribers to retain multiple Sims. So, increasingly we are seeing this trend of subscribers holding only a single Sim to keep the costs within the budget. At the same time, consumers in tier-II and III where the number is not a strong identity, they have started opting for BSNL which is an affordable alternative since it started offering 4G services,” Faisal Kawoosa, Chief Analyst and Founder, Techarc told businessline.

He said customers are even giving up 5G services of private players for 4G as 5G has not been able to offer any different experience or value, so far.

“BSNL has the chance of consumers going for its 4G Sim in situations where they may still have to keep additional Sim like a data Sim for tablet, or any other use case. It has a chance of becoming a secondary Sim for many consumers who will get another data service and also be able to contain the costs,” Kawoosa added.

Related Topics