According to the monthly subscriber data that was released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Vodafone Idea’s downward spiral continued in September 2022, when the telecom operator lost more than 40,11,544 wireless users.

As a result of adding 7.24 million new users in a single month, Reliance Jio maintained its lead in the rankings. During the month, Bharti Airtel saw an increase in its total user base of 4.12 million.

More than 7.82 lakh subscribers left the state-run telecom provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, and another government organization, Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited, lost 7,490 subscribers over the course of the month.

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In September, there was the greatest increase in the number of wireless subscribers in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Bihar.

In contrast to the previous month, more of Jio’s and Airtel’s growth came from urban areas. Only 2.88 lakh of Jio’s total subscriber additions came from the rural belt; the remaining connections came from cities and towns.

However, strong growth numbers from the urban belt offset the loss of more than 7.22 lakh rural subscribers that Airtel experienced during the month.

In September 2022, Jio maintained its lead with a total market share of 36.66 percent, while Airtel came in second with a 31.8% share. With a 21.75 percent share of the market during the month under review, Vodafone Idea came in third.

From 83.27% at the end of August, the total wireless tele-density increased to 82.94% in September. Rural wireless tele-density was 57.79 percent, while urban wireless tele-density was 129.56%.

From 85.15 percent in August, the country’s overall tele-density decreased to 84.86 percent in September.

In September, total wireline customers also increased by 1.92 percent month-over-month (MoM) to 2.64 Cri. With 28.91 percent of the total market share, Jio dominated the wireline market, followed by BSNL with 26.82 percent and Airtel with 24.19 percent, respectively.

In September 2022, the telecom providers received a total of 1.19 billion requests for mobile number portability (MNP).

Telcos in the midst of a change

This comes at a time when the telecom industry is going through a lot of change, from new rules to better telecom networks. The Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 Draft was made available by the government as part of this last month.

The Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, which has been in effect for 100 years, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933, and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act of 1950 are the three laws that the Bill seeks to repeal.

In the aftermath, telcos fought to include over-the-top (OTT) communication apps in telecommunication services and to impose the same regulatory and spectrum standards on them.

Telecom controller TRAI is likewise purportedly near distributing a discussion paper to make an administrative system for OTT applications.

In the meantime, within the next few weeks, TRAI will also begin implementing its mobile phone caller identification system. It is anticipated that this will render the Sweden-based Truecaller’s model obsolete in the nation.

In spite of all of this, it has been reported that Airtel has, as part of a pilot program, raised the prices of many of its monthly mobile recharge plans by as much as 57% in some areas. The telco likewise plans to scale the levy climb the nation over.

5G services were also introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October to much fanfare. As a result, major players like Airtel and Jio have begun nationwide deployment of the next-generation services.

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