Telecom operator Vodafone Idea’s (VIL) continued to lose customers in February by more than 20-lakh (20,01,388) subscribers, while Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio gained by around 10-lakh each.
VIL’s total consumer base at the end of February was 237.96 million, as compared to Airtel’s 369.97 million and RJio’s 427.18 million. VIL’s market share further shrunk to 20.84 per cent in February from 20.99 per cent in January.
According to the monthly data shared by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Thursday, the total wireless subscribers decreased from 1,143.02 million at the end of January to 1,141.96 million at the end of February, thereby registering a monthly decline rate of 0.09 per cent.
Wireless subscription in urban areas decreased from to 626.37 million at the end of February this year as compared with 627.13 million in January. Wireless subscription in rural areas also decreased to 515.60 million during the same period as compared with 515.89 million in January 2023.
Monthly decline rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were 0.12 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively, it said.
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TRAI said the wireless tele-density in India decreased from 82.52 per cent at the end of January to 82.38 per cent at the end of February. The urban wireless tele-density decreased from 128.76 per cent at the end of January to 128.41 per cent at the end of February, and rural tele-density also decreased from 57.44 per cent to 57.39 per cent during the same period.
The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in total number of wireless subscribers was 54.85 per cent and 45.15 per cent respectively at the end of February, it added.