Active mobile subscriber additions improve in September; Vodafone Idea shows signs of stabilisation: Jefferies

India’s active mobile subscriber additions improved in September, with early signs of stabilisation in Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base and expectations of a recovery in Bharti Airtel’s additions after recent tariff changes, according to a report by Jefferies.

India’s active mobile subscriber additions improved in September, with early signs of stabilisation in Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base and expectations of a recovery in Bharti Airtel’s additions after recent tariff changes, according to a report by Jefferies. The active mobile subscriber base, excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, increased by 0.9 million to 1.068 billion in September, compared with additions of 0.8 million in August, the report said.

Jefferies said Bharti Airtel’s active subscriber base declined by 0.2 million in September following select tariff increases introduced in mid-August. However, it expects additions to improve going forward, as the impact of the tariff changes is “largely behind now”. Airtel’s active mobile subscriber market share remained steady at 37.5 per cent during September. The company added 2.69 million subscribers to its overall wireless base, as per TRAI data.

Vodafone Idea continued to lose active mobile subscribers, with its base declining by 0.3 million in September. However, the fall was lower than its average monthly decline of 0.7 million over the previous 12 months, suggesting early signs of stabilisation. “Expansion in sites on the network will help VIL to stabilize its subscriber base in the future,” Jefferies said. The brokerage expects Vodafone Idea’s active mobile subscriber base, excluding M2M connections, to remain at 171-172 million during FY27-28.

The report also highlighted stronger growth in M2M connections, which are used for communication between devices. Sector-wide M2M additions rose to 4.3 million in September, the highest in six months and more than 4.5 times active mobile subscriber additions. The M2M subscriber base reached 145 million, with Airtel adding 2.5 million connections and retaining around 61 per cent of the market. M2M additions accounted for nearly two-thirds of total wireless subscriber additions during the month.

Meanwhile, India’s home broadband subscriber base increased by 0.6 million to 68.1 million. Fixed wireless access and unlicensed band radio additions contributed 0.4 million, accounting for more than half of home broadband additions. However, mobile number portability requests rose to 16.8 million in September, indicating continued competition among telecom operators.

Jefferies said the coming months would show whether Airtel’s subscriber additions recover after its tariff interventions and whether Vodafone Idea can sustain the recent moderation in subscriber losses. (ANI)