Total telephone subscribers in India rose 0.57% to reach 1209.45 million users in July, as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recent data. Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio recorded the highest net additions in wireless subscriptions followed by Airtel in the same time period.
Jio tops subscriber additions
According to the data, all stated except Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, North East, Karnataka, Delhi and Kolkata saw growth in their wireless subscriber in July.
Reliance Jio added more than 65.1 lakh subscribers. Bharati Airtel occupied the second spot with approx 19.4 lakh additions. Vodafone-Idea's subscriber base shrank by 14.3 lakh users. State-run telecom companies BSNL and MTNL's user base shrank by about 10.2 lakh users and 5,847 users respectively.
The data implied Reliance Jio held a wireless user base of approx 44.3 crore as of July 31st. Airtel had a subscriber base of 35.4 crore whereas Vodafone-Idea now has 27.2 crore users intact during the same time period.
TRAI further stated that during the month of July, telecom operators had received 10.99 million requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP).
Recent Reforms
Last week, the Union Cabinet had announced a string of reforms to bail out the ailing telecom sector. As part of the relief package, the telecos could opt to convert the interest due on their spectrum amounting to four-year moratorium, to government equity. The cabinet allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector with safeguards.
Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the Cabinet rationalised aggregated gross revenue (AGR) definition, excluding non-telecom revenue of telcos from payment of statutory levies. AGR refers to revenues that are considered for payment of statutory dues.
