- Once the market leader, Vi’s share is now reduced to 21.11 percent
- Per TRAI’s latest report, the telco lost 2.47 million subscribers in December 2022
- Airtel and Jio, in contrast, added 1.7 million and 1.52 million subscribers, respectively
Vodafone Idea (Vi) Limited’s market share plunges, per the Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) latest report. The debt-ridden telco, which is struggling to launch 5G in India, has reportedly lost a whopping 2.47 million subscribers in December 2022. Airtel and Jio, on the other hand, gained subscribers. Bharati Airtel added 1.7 million users, while Mukesh Ambani-promoted telco had 1.52 million subscribers during the same period, per the report.
Having said that, the number of overall mobile subscribers decreased for the third time in four months. TRAI highlights that the numbers dropped to 1.142 billion at the end of December 2022, from 1.143 billion in November. The decline in subscribers was attributed to a drop in rural users, as the rural wireless user base decreased to 515.89 million from 516.45 million, while wireless subscriptions in urban areas increased to 627.03 million from 626.6 million.
Jio and Airtel now hold market shares of 37.14 percent and 32.16 percent, respectively, while VIL’s share decreased to 21.11 percent. In terms of wireline service, Jio improved its position. VIL‘s net loss for the fiscal third quarter widened to Rs 7,990 crore from Rs 7,595.5 crore sequentially, primarily due to higher financing and operating costs, despite a substantial drop in subscriber numbers.
The revenue for the October-December period remained stable at Rs 10,620.6 crore sequentially, as the effects of tariff hikes in late 2021 slowed down. The average revenue per user (ARPU), a key performance metric for telecom companies, for the cash-strapped VIL, was up 3.3 percent sequentially at Rs 135.
