Jio and Airtel Soar After TRAI's June Report on Subscriber Growth, While Voda Idea Struggles - Who's Winning the Telecom Battle?

Telecom stocks are under scrutiny on August 21, following the release of subscriber data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for June.

Reliance Jio, the telecommunications arm of Reliance Industries (RIL), added approximately 1.91 million wireless subscribers in June, while Bharti Airtel, led by Sunil Mittal, saw a more modest increase of 1.25 million subscribers, according to government data. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea continued to lose ground, with 861,000 users leaving the network during the same period.

These additions brought Reliance Jio's total mobile user base to around 476 million, while Airtel's reached 389 million in June. Vodafone Idea's subscriber losses reduced its total user base to 217 million.

In the wireline segment, Reliance Jio once again led the market by adding 434,000 new subscribers. Airtel followed with 44,611 new additions, and Vodafone Idea gained 21,042 new users.

In the machine-to-machine segment, Bharti Airtel led with 28.2 million connections, trailed by Vodafone Idea with 14.5 million, and Jio with 6.72 million subscribers. The total broadband subscriber base in India increased to 940 million in June, up from 935.1 million in May.

Reliance Jio dominated the broadband sector with a total customer base of 488.9 million, followed by Bharti Airtel with 281.3 million subscribers, and Vodafone Idea with 127.8 million.

On August 20, Bharti Airtel shares closed nearly 1.5% lower at ₹1,449 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), while Vodafone Idea shares fell slightly to ₹15.94. RIL, Jio's parent company, saw a minor increase, closing at ₹2,986.50 on NSE.

The addition of new customers by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel helped push India's total telecom subscriber base beyond 1.205 billion in June, according to the TRAI report released on Tuesday.

The wireless subscriber base increased marginally to over 1.17 billion, while wireline connections rose to 35.1 million in June, compared to 1.1689 billion and 34.7 million, respectively, in May, as reported in TRAI's June subscriber data.

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel drove the growth in both the wireless and wireline segments.

"The total number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1.20369 billion at the end of May 2024 to 1.20564 billion at the end of June 2024, reflecting a monthly growth rate of 0.16%," the TRAI report stated.

Reliance Jio added 1.911 million new wireless subscribers in June, while Bharti Airtel's net addition was 1.252 million. Subscriber losses by Vodafone Idea (VIL), BSNL, MTNL, and Reliance Communications led to a net addition of just 1.573 million in the overall wireless segment.

“Vodafone Idea lost 860,000 subscribers, BSNL 725,000, MTNL 3,927, and RCom lost 2 subscribers during the month. In the wireline segment, Reliance Jio led with the addition of 434,000 new subscribers, followed by Airtel with 44,611, Vodafone Idea with 21,042, and VMIPL with 13,996 new connections,” the report added.

BSNL recorded the highest loss of wireless customers in June, shedding 60,644 subscribers. Quadrant lost 37,159 subscribers, Tata Teleservices 32,315, MTNL 6,218, and APSFL 829 subscribers. In the machine-to-machine segment, Bharti Airtel led with 28.2 million connections, followed by Vodafone Idea with 14.5 million, Jio with 6.72 million, and BSNL with 2.93 million subscribers.

India's total broadband subscriber base grew to 940 million in June, up from 935.1 million at the end of the previous month.

Reliance Jio remained the leader in the broadband segment, with a total customer base of 488.9 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 281.3 million, Vodafone Idea with 127.8 million, and BSNL with 25 million subscribers.