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Event update: Telecom - Jio Nov subscriber additions slower

Sim consolidation continues in the industry 

In November, the overall industry lost about 15.7m subscribers (subs) on a month on month basis. The total subscribers in the country stood at 1,162m. We believe the net reduction in subscriber base is likely driven by sim consolidation as other operators namely, Reliance Communication (RCOM), Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Telenor scale down their networks.

As RCOM, Tata drop subscribers

The drop in subscribers continued for the peripheral operators and the overall net reduction was largely driven by exit of RCOM subscribers. RCOM lost 25.7mn subs on month on month basis. TTSL also lost 2.2mn subs in November and total subs stood at 38m. Aircel’s drop was more controlled as they lost 0.6mn subs and their total sub base stood at 87.6m.

Jio subscriber additions slower in November

Jio’s subscriber momentum somewhat decelerated in November over October as they added 6.1mn subs vs. 7.4m in October. The VLR additions were even lower at 3.7m for November as against 12.7m in October. While its too early to conclude a trend from one month of data, slower addition could have contributed to the recent price action by Jio.

Bharti Airtel continues to do well, better VLR performance from Idea+Vodafone

Bharti Airtel’s sub addition remains strong in November with 4.3m sub additions month on month and 7.6m VLR additions. The total subs for Bharti stood at 289.5m at the end of November. Among other incumbents we saw recovery in sub additions of both Idea and Vodafone with them adding 3.1m and 2.7m subs in November respectively. Vodafone VLR addition was better at 4.1m while Idea added 2.6m VLR subs. However given the price action by Jio this month, we would like to see if they can sustain the sub addition momentum into 4QFY18E.