Reliance Jio gets 331.3 million subscribers : Rules the telecom industry as No. 1 operator
Mumbai : Reliance Jio is now also the number one operator by revenue market share with 31.7% share of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) that the industry recorded in the April-June period.
Airtel came a close second with 30% market share and Vodafone Idea Ltd was third with 28.1% share, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released on Tuesday and analysed by brokerage ICICI Securities showed.
“RJio AGR (including National Long Distance calls) rose 9% year on year to ₹109 billion, and finally became the No. 1 operator,” the brokerage said in a note dated 27 August.
Mint had on 31 July reported that Jio would be crowned as number one operator in terms of revenue in the June quarter.
With this, India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani has achieved a rare feat with his telecom company grabbing the top spot in the market in less than three years of starting operations.
Jio entered the telecom sector in September 2016 with cheap data plans and affordable handsets, which led to an unprecedented rise in mobile data consumption in the country, with an average user consuming 11 GB data per month.
Bharti’s AGR (including National Long Distance calls) was at ₹103 billion, up 5.9% from December quarter. Vodafone Idea’s AGR (including National Long Distance calls) stood at ₹96 billion.
Last month, Jio overtook rival Bharti Airtel to become the country’s second largest operator in terms of mobile phone subscribers. According to data from TRAI released last month, Jio had 322.98 million users and 27.8% subscriber market share, against Airtel’s 320.38 million users and 27.6% market share as of end-May.
While the telecom industry also witnessed intense disruption, shrinking revenue streams, bankruptcy and, finally, consolidation, the last three years have been monumental as 4G coverage soared and became a catalyst for the growth of mobile data and new applications and services, especially in the content ecosystem.
Jio’s present subscriber base is 331.3 million subscribers, according to its April-June financial results announced last month when it reported a profit of ₹8.91 billion, up 45.6% year on year and an operating revenue of ₹116.79 billion rupees, up 44% on year.
