Vodafone Idea (VIL) continued to lose wireless subscribers in January by more than 1.3 million, while Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and Reliance Jio (RJio) added a total of 1,281,822 and 1,658,448 wireless subscribers.

According to the latest subscriber data shared by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), total wireless subscribers increased from 1,142.93 million at the end of December 2022 to 1,143.02 million at the end of January, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.01 per cent.

While Airtel and RJio have gone ahead with 5G launches covering more than 1,000 cities put together, VIL has not announced 5G launch, and according to analysts, VIL’s competitive intensity is worsening, leading to no further tariff hikes.

Airtel has been leading sector tariff hikes, which have continued in January/ February, introducing a hefty 57 per cent hike for entry prepaid plans (from ₹99 to ₹155) for price-sensitive mobile subscribers (voice only) now in 19 of 22 circles across India.

According to the TRAI data, Airtel recorded the highest percentage of active wireless subscribers (VLR) at 99.30 per cent, followed by RJio with 92.56 and VIL with a VLR percentage of 87.15.

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Overall, the Authority said wireless subscription in urban areas increased from to 627.03 million at the end of December to 627.13 million at the end of January. However, wireless subscription in rural areas remained same -- 515.89 which was at the end of December. Monthly growth rate of urban wireless subscription was 0.02 per cent, while for rural it remained the same, TRAI said.

The sector regulator’s monthly data also mentioned that the wireless tele-density in India decreased from 82.57 per cent at the end of December to 82.52 per cent at the end of January. The urban wireless tele-density decreased from 128.94 per cent at the end of December to 128.76 per cent at the end of January and rural tele-density also decreased from 57.46 per cent to 57.44 per cent during the same period.

The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in total number of wireless subscribers was 54.87 per cent and 45.13 per cent respectively at the end of January, it added.

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