Reliance Jio Achieves Record Growth Amidst Moderate Industry Subscriber Increase

Reliance Jio added 2.2 million net subscribers and 3.5 million active subscribers in May, marking 27 months of continuous growth. Jio's success boosts its VLR ratio to 92.1%. TRAI data shows a robust mobile broadband sector growth, and Jio's fibre-to-the-home subscriptions reached 0.38 million.

Reliance Jio, India's leading telecom operator, has reported a substantial addition of 2.2 million net subscribers and 3.5 million active subscribers in May, marking its 27th consecutive month of growth. Data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) highlight Jio's improved visitor location register (VLR) ratio, which stood at 92.1% in May, indicating a growing active user base.

In the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) segment, Jio notched its highest monthly additions at 0.38 million, largely driven by the aggressive rollout of JioAirFiber. Bharti Airtel, its closest competitor, saw moderate FTTH growth with 0.11 million new subscribers during the same period.

The telecom sector as a whole saw a moderate increase, adding approximately 2 million subscribers in May. Bharti Airtel reported strong mobile broadband (MBB) additions of 2.6 million new subscribers, but its active subscriber growth lagged at 0.9 million, causing a slight dip in its VLR ratio to 99.1%. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea (VIL) added 0.8 million MBB subscribers but continued to struggle with declines in both its overall and active subscriber bases.

May also saw about 12 million subscribers submit Mobile Number Portability (MNP) requests, pushing cumulative MNP requests to 985.60 million by the end of the month, up from 973.60 million at the end of April 2024. Despite early 2022 subscriber losses due to SIM consolidation after a tariff hike, Jio's net subscriber additions have ranged between 0.7 million and 4.2 million every month since March 2022.

TRAI data further show that the number of active wireless subscribers in May was 1059.73 million. Jio, aside from its mobile broadband milestones, recorded significant growth in FTTH subscriptions, with a peak addition of 0.38 million subscribers, an increase from 0.35 million in April 2024. Anticipation surrounds Jio's new unlimited plans effective from July 3, as the company aims to leverage technology to deliver superior value and services.

(With inputs from agencies.)