Reliance Jio, Airtel Add 99% of New Telecom Subscribers in May

New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) The total number of telecom subscribers in India grew marginally to 120.7 crore in May with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel adding over 99 per cent new customers during the month, according to data published by sector regulator Trai on Friday.

The total net subscriber addition by telecom service providers was 43,58,231 while Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel jointly added 43,51,294, thereby accounting for 99.84 of the total net subscriber addition in May.

The overall growth in subscriber base was mitigated by loss of subscribers by debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (Vi) and public sector firms BSNL and MTNL.

The total telecom subscriber base in the country grew to 120.7 crore with landline connection growing by 3.34 per cent to 3.86 crore and mobile connections rising to 116.84 crore in May. The total subscriber base in April was 120.3 crore.

Reliance Jio dominated the mobile subscriber base, comprising 5G FWA (fixed wireless access) connections, with 40.92 per cent share with net addition of 27 lakh customers taking its total wireless base to 47.24 crore.

Bharti Airtel held 33.61 per cent share with net addition of 2.75 lakh taking its total subscriber base to 39 crore in May.

Vi lost 2.74 lakh, BSNL 1.35 lakh, MTNL 4.7 lakh and Reliance Communications lost 30 mobile subscribers in May.

In the wireline segment, Reliance Jio led the chart with net new subscriber addition at 12.76 lakh. It was followed by Bharti Airtel which added around 99,000 new subscribers. Tata Teleservices added 4,890 new subscribers, Vi 1,795 and STPL 252.

State-run MTNL was the biggest loser of fixed line customers in May. It lost 66,834 fixed line subscribers and BSNL lost over 46,000 customers.

The total number of broadband subscribers in the country reached 97.48 crore in May. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel submitted internet subscription data in required format to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India after a gap of five months.

Reliance Jio led the broadband segment with 49.44 crore subscribers comprising customers in both mobile and wireless segments. It was followed by Bharti Airtel with 30.2 crore broadband subscribers, Vi 12.66 crore, BSNL 3.43 crore and Atria Convergence 23.2 lakh customers.

The 5G FWA subscriber base decreased to 74 lakh in May from 75 lakh in April due to Reliance Jio shifting over 10 lakh Fixed Wireless Access - Unlicensed Band Radio (FWA-UBR) subscribers in FTTx category-- which falls under fixed line segment.