In a recent blow to Reliance Jio, which is the country’s largest telecom provider, a whopping 7.9 million (79 lakh) subscribers were lost in a single month this year as millions of users switched to state-owned BSNL. This comes after the private telcos hiked mobile tariffs by a significant margin earlier in July 2024.
BSNL Surges Ahead as Jio, Airtel, and Vi Lose Millions of Subscribers
As per the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio lost 79 lakh subscribers whereas Airtel lost 14 lakh customers in the month of September 2024. On the other hand, Vi (Vodafone-Idea) lost 15 lakh customers.
In the twist of tales, BSNL has emerged as the definitive winner, with over 5.5 million (55 lakh) subscribers porting their numbers to the government-owned provider in the July-October 2024 period.
As per the data shared by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), 1.5 million subscribers switched to BSNL from private telecom providers, Jio, Vi, and Airtel, in July, while the number surged t0 2.1 million in August 2024. The same number in month of September and October was around 1.1 million and 0.7 million respectively.
BSNL’s Revival: Competitive Pricing Challenges Jio and Airtel Amidst Tariff Hikes
The data revealed how the hike in the tariff by private players acted against them, since prior to the month of July, till June month users were migrate from BSNL to these private players. However, after tariff plans of private players became costlier, the migration of users slowed down, with the state-owned telco losing just 310,000 users in July, 260,000 in August, 280,000 in September, and 510,000 in October 2024.
As per DoT, BSNL added over 65 lakh new subscribers to its expanding network in the last two months. With its competitive pricing, BSNL is now posing a stiff challenge to industry leaders such as Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Airtel.
Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, while hailing the government-owned telco’s revival and expansion, said that “I see a huge opportunity in BSNL”.
Notably, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director, Robert Ravi, stated that the telecom provider does not intent to increase its tariffs in the near future.
