Jio adds 17.6 lakh mobile users in Oct; Airtel, VIL lose subscribers: TRAI data

India’s largest telecom operator Reliance Jio gained 17.6 lakh mobile subscribers in October 2021 while market rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea lost a cumulative 14.5 lakh users during the month, according to the latest data released by TRAI on Monday.

The mobile subscriber base of Reliance Jio surged to 42.65 crore in October. The telco added 17.61 lakh mobile users during the month, the data showed.

The second largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel lost 4.89 lakh mobile customers in October, and its subscriber base declined to 35.39 crore.

As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) data, Vodafone Idea lost 9.64 lakh mobile subscribers and its user base dipped to 26.90 crore in October.

The total number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 1,189.62 million (118.96 crore) at the end of October 2021, a monthly growth rate of 0.04 per cent.

Urban telephone subscription decreased to 658.83 million (65.88 crore) at the end of October 2021, but the rural subscription rose to 530.79 million (53.07 crore) during the same period, TRAI said.

‘The overall tele-density in India decreased from 86.89 per cent at the end of September’21 to 86.86 per cent at the end of October’21,’ TRAI said in its monthly subscription data.