Jio, Airtel to continue gaining share at Vodafone Idea’s expense: Analysts

New Delhi: Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel will continue gaining market share at the expense of Vodafone Idea as 5G becomes mainstream, said analysts.

Elevated demand for porting mobile phone numbers signals intense competition between Jio and Airtel, which are fighting for Vodafone Idea’s users wanting to move to a 5G network. This will keep the selling and marketing (S&M) costs of the top two telecom operators high, they said.

In November, Jio added 3.4 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 1.7 million, as per data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Vodafone Idea (VIL) lost over a million customers that month. November was the 20th straight month when Jio added more subscribers than its rivals.