The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday released the telecom subscription data as on August 31, 2021 that showed Reliance Jio gained 6.49 lakh mobile users in August followed by Bharti Airtel, which added 1.38 lakh users.
In contrast, Vodafone Idea lost 8.33 lakh subscribers during August, although its losses were less than July, PTI reported from New Delhi.
Jio also added 6.49 lakh wireless users in August taking the count to 44.38 crore. Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel onboarded 1.38 lakh users during the month, taking it overall wireless subscriber count to 35.41 crore.
VodafoneIdea lost 8.33 lakh mobile subscribers in August as its wireless users count dipped to 27.1 crore, according to data released by telecom regulator TRAI.
Notably, the troubled operator — that got a shot in the arm with a relief package announced by the government recently — has plugged its subscriber losses to an extent, given that it had lost 14.3 lakh users in July.
Meanwhile, the number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,209.45 million at the end of July-21 to 1,209.58 million at the end of August-21, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.01 percent.
Urban telephone subscription increased from 670.75 million at the end of July-21 to 671.31 million at the end of August-21. However, the rural subscription decreased from 538.70 million to 538.28 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.08 percent and -0.08 percent, respectively during the month of August-21.
The overall tele-density in India decreased from 88.51 percent at the end of July-21 to 88.45 percent at the end of August-21. The urban tele-density decreased from 141.62 percent at the end of July-21 to 141.52 percent at the end of August-21 and rural tele-density also decreased from 60.33 to 60.27 percent during the same period.
The share of urban and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of August-21 was 55.50 percent and 44.50 percent, respectively.