Jio Loses 79 Lakh, Airtel Loses 14 Lakh, BSNL Gains 8.5 Lakh Subscribers in September

Price sensitivity seems to be higher among Indian consumers than private telecom corporations had anticipated. Following the announcement of rate increases in July, Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone have continued to lose customers. With the addition of new subscribers for the second consecutive month, state-owned BSNL, which had not hiked its tariffs, seems to be benefiting at their expense. A number of years of price battles came to an end in July when India's telecom companies jointly announced price hikes.

With 79.7 lakh members lost in September, Jio experienced the most subscriber loss. In the meantime, Vodafone Idea lost 15.5 lakh customers, and Airtel lost 14.3 lakh. The customer base of state-owned BSNL increased by 8.5 lakh, in contrast.

BSNL Growing its Subscribers’ Network

These tendencies are consistent with August's events. Airtel lost 24 lakh customers, Vodafone Idea lost 18 lakh customers, and Reliance Jio lost 40.1 lakh customers in August. During that time, BSNL added 25 lakh new customers. 2.5 lakh consumers were said to have switched from other providers to BSNL in July.

In September, 1.33 crore applications for mobile number portability (MNP) were submitted, representing a spike in demand. In the wake of increasing tariffs, the surge highlights growing customer unhappiness and shifting loyalties.

These actions come after Indian telecom firms announced pricing increases in June of this year, the first such action in about 30 months. Whereas Airtel had raised pricing by 10–21%, Jio had raised prices by 12–25% for its plans. VI's various plans now have pricing that has increased by 11–24%. As a result, the most affordable 28-day monthly package with phone and data perks started at INR 189 for Jio and INR 199 for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. For just INR 108, state-owned BSNL was providing a plan with comparable benefits.

BSNL’s New Initiatives to Attract More Subscribers

BSNL has been searching for ways to leverage its price advantage since that time. Direct-to-device services, automated SIM kiosks, and spam blockers are some of the new initiatives that BSNL has introduced. Positive social media buzz has also been generated about it; a video of BSNL staff members revealing a SIM in a dilapidated government building has been contrasted favourably to the flashy debuts of private telecom firms. The advantages of having a state-run telecom operator are becoming clear in the era of privatisation; even if their service isn't the best, it gives customers an alternative in the event that private companies decide to band together and raise prices at the same time.

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StartupTalkyNitin Konde