Telecom subscribers’ addition on steady path: Report

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India's telecom subscribers' addition came back on steady path in January 2021, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report.</p>
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Accordingly, the total subscriber base increased to 1.16 billion in January 2021. The report citing Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, the analysis report said gross subscribers increased by 9.6 million on a MoM basis.</p>
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"The telecom industry added 9.6m gross subscribers in Jan'21 to touch a subscriber base of 1.16b (v/s a 1.4m loss in Dec'20)," the analysis report said</p>
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"The trend has been maintained for the past five months, with Bharti continuing to add higher gross, active and 4G subscribers than RJio. The rise in Bharti and RJio gross subscriber base stood at 5.9m and 2m in Jan'21. VIL added 1.7m subscribers in Jan'21."</p>
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Besides, active subscribers rose by a steady 3.3 million in January 2021 to 979 million.</p>
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"Active subscribers increased by 3.3m in Jan'21 to touch 979m subscribers, after adding 7.2m subscribers in December 2020, highlighting consolidation in the sector."</p>
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"Bharti continued with its strong (6.9m) active subscriber additions, while VIL lost a mere 0.3m subscribers in Jan'21."</p>
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Furthermore, the analysis report said that industry's 4G subscriber additions slowed to 9.8 million to reach 734 million with 4G subscribers now accounting for 75 per cent of active subscribers. "MBB subscribers – whose count has been rising continuously from 64 per cent in Oct'19 – now account for 75 per cent of the total number of active subscribers in the market."</p>
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Additionally, the report said wired broadband subscriber additions stood at 0.4m to 22.7m. "Industry wired broadband subscriber additions stood at 380k, of which RJio added 180k, while Bharti added 90k subscribers."</p>
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"BSNL's total wired broadband subscriber stands at 7.7m, while Bharti and RJio's wired broadband subscribers stands at 2.9m and 2.3m in Jan'21. BSNL's remains the leader with a 34 per cent market share, while Bharti and RJio remain in second and third position with a market share of 12.8 per cent and 9.9 per cent in Jan'21."</p>
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