Reliance Jio Subscriber Loss: India’s private telcos are on a losing streak. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea lost millions of wireless users in September—marking three months in a row of customer drops. The reason? Tariff hikes that began in July seem to be driving users away.
Jio, the biggest mobile operator, saw its user base shrink to 463.78 million, down from 471.74 million in August. Airtel dropped to 383.48 million, and Vodafone Idea fell to 212.45 million. Meanwhile, BSNL added nearly a million new users in September, climbing to 91.89 million subscribers—all thanks to its stable pricing.
The trend was clear in active users too. Airtel lost 1.31 million, and Vodafone Idea saw a sharper drop of 3.11 million active users. On the flip side, Jio’s active base grew by 1.73 million, and BSNL continued its rise with 54.77 million active users compared to 53.60 million in August.
With private telcos feeling the heat, BSNL seems to be riding the wave. Could this shift change India’s telecom landscape?
