Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the struggling Indian telecom operator, was the only company to gain users in July 2024, while other major players such as MTNL, Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), and Reliance Jio saw customer losses due to recent tariff hikes. BSNL added 2.97 million new customers, bucking the industry trend. Vodafone Idea’s CEO, Akshaya Moondra, noted that many of their customers were porting out to BSNL during this period.
More Data, Less Cost, Maximum Value. No Tariff Hike!#BSNL #BSNLNetwork #StayConnected #SwitchToBSNL pic.twitter.com/zwcFdNCTph
— BSNL India (@BSNLCorporate) September 20, 2024
In contrast, Reliance Jio lost 0.75 million wireless users, Airtel shed 1.6 million, and Vi lost 1.4 million. Despite these declines, the total active user base for both Reliance Jio and Airtel remained relatively stable. BSNL’s active user base saw a significant jump, increasing from 46.58 million to 49.49 million.
In terms of market share, Reliance Jio held 40.68%, Bharti Airtel had 33.12%, Vodafone Idea accounted for 18.46%, and BSNL captured 7.59%. Private telecom operators controlled 92.25% of the market, while public sector companies like BSNL and MTNL had a 7.75% share. These shifts occurred as operators implemented tariff hikes, and companies like Vodafone Idea expressed confidence that customers switching to BSNL due to price increases would eventually return, especially given BSNL’s limited 4G services.
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BSNL’s recent surge in users, nearly 3 million in just one month, is a rare win for the state-run operator. However, the company faces the challenge of rapidly expanding its 4G network to retain these customers. BSNL aims to deploy 100,000 4G sites across India by mid-2025, a critical move if it hopes to compete with private operators and sustain its recent growth. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues into August 2024.
