Telecom subscriber base falls to 116.3 crore in May; Jio, BSNL gain

NEW DELHI: Telecom consumer base in the country dipped to around 116.36 crore in May but service providers were able to narrow the loss of subscriber base to 57.6 lakh as compared to the previous month, according to data released by the sector regulator Trai on Wednesday.
The telecom subscriber base had declined 85.3 lakh in April, when the country was under complete lockdown, to 116.94 crore.
“The number of telephone subscribers in India decreased from 1,169.44 million at the end of April 2020 to 1,163.67 million at the end of May 2020, thereby showing a monthly decline rate of 0.49 per cent,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) subscription report for May said.
Major loss in subscriber base was recorded in the mobile telephony segment, with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea losing around 47 lakh mobile customers each in May. The total wireless customer base of Airtel and Vodafone Idea dipped to 31.7 crore and 30.9 crore, respectively.