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MOSL: TELECOM: Subscriber base consolidates; RJio leads growth

TELECOM: Subscriber base consolidates; RJio leads growth

 

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released data for Aug’21. Here are the key highlights:

• The industry gross/active subscriber base grew nil/2.4m to 1187m/992m, (6m/4.5m adds in July’21). However, the flux from VIL to other telcos, particularly RJio, remained steady with improving market share.
• While gross adds for Bharti/RJio were muted at 0.6m/0.1m, active subscriber adds were particularly strong for RJio at 4.1m v/s Bharti at 0.8m (6.1m and 2.3m, respectively, in July’21). This was potentially led by SIM card consolidation from 0.8m/1.9m decline in gross/active subscribers for VIL. RJio now leads the active subscriber share at 35.4% v/s 35% for Bharti.
• Bharti’s gross/active subscriber additions slowed to 0.1m/0.8m v/s 2–3m (on average) in the last couple of months; the total number of gross/active subscribers stood at 354m/347m. The gross/active subscriber market share remained flat at 29.8%/35%. However, it maintained a steady run-rate of 4m 4G subscriber adds – the key barometer to drive mix-led ARPU growth – to 202m.
• VIL’s gross/active subscribers continued to decline by 0.8m/1.9m to 271m/236m, albeit at a slightly slower pace. Even its 4G subscriber adds, which had grown in the last couple of months, declined marginally by 0.5m.
• RJio continued to lead in gross/active subscriber adds with 0.6m/4.1m to 441m/351m, increasing its market share by 10/40bp to 37.4%/35.4%. However, 4G adds slowed to 0.25m, far below Bharti’s 4m.
• Industry 4G subscribers grew by 5m to 783.4m, with 4G subscribers accounting for 79.5% of the active subscriber base.
• Bharti continued to post steady gains of 4m (4.5m in July’21), while gains for RJio/VIL were muted at 0.3m/-0.5m.