Jio Adds Highest Wireless Subscribers In July, Vodafone Idea Market Share Continues To Decline: TRAI

Reliance Jio maintained its dominance in the Indian telecom market while Vodafone Idea's decline in wireless subscribers continued unabated in July.

Jio added 4.82 lakh wireless subscribers in July — the highest number of wireless subscribers in the month, according to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday.

It also retained leadership across the wireline and broadband segments, strengthening its position as the most diversified telecom player. With nearly 41.04% market share in mobile services, the company remains a key driver of growth in the sector and a bellwether for telecom-focused investors.

However, Vodafone Idea lost 3.59 lakh subscribers. The continued decline in user base is a concerning trend for the cash-strapped telecom company. With mounting AGR dues and operational strain, Vi's losses could weigh further on investor sentiment.

Bharti Airtel reported a net addition of 4.64 lakh mobile subscribers. The telco also maintained its wired subscriber base at 1.02 lakh and more than 21.73% market share. However, Reliance Jio saw net additions of 5.71 lakh wireline subscribers, overtaking Airtel.

This underscores Airtel’s strong positioning in the enterprise and IoT ecosystem, which continues to attract investor interest amid the growing digital transformation across industries.

State-run BSNL lost 1.01 lakh subscribers in July. MTNL, too, continued to bleed subscribers. Public sector telcos now account for less than 8% of the mobile subscriber market.

India's telecom sector added 1.66 million new subscribers in July, taking the total user base to 1.22 billion, India's broadband subscribers in July stood at 984.69 million.

The overall urban subscriber base stood at 683.52 million (56.02%) while rural users made up 536.51 million (43.98%). Urban tele-density reached 134.07%, while rural areas lagged at 59.19%, highlighting the gap that telcos can still tap into.

With TRAI data showing Jio and Airtel on divergent growth paths from Vodafone Idea and PSUs, the data serves as a key monitorable for telecom stocks amid ongoing sectoral consolidation and 5G monetisation efforts.