Reliance Jio has slowed down on adding new subscribers. At the same time, Bharti Airtel has been adding more subscribers than Jio for consecutive months now. According to the Monthly Subscription report from Trai for January 2021, Jio added 1.9 million users in contrast to Airtel’s 5.8 million users. Adding to this, Jio is also behind Airtel with respect to active users. Jio has 324.52 million active VLR customers, while Airtel has 335.77 million active VLR users. This trend of Airtel adding more subscribers than Jio has been going on for months. So how come Reliance Jio, the largest telco in India with the cheapest offerings, is falling behind Airtel? Let’s find out.
Jio’s Network the Issue, Not Pricing
Reliance Jio has the largest subscriber base in India. Even though it offers the cheapest 4G plans, it is falling behind Airtel. The issue has to be its network. Most of the customers today want a better network rather than saving a negligible amount of money. Because it is true, after the tariff hikes in 2019, the rates of Airtel’s and Jio’s offering came very close. Even though Airtel’s offerings are slightly expensive than Jio’s, the former provides a good quality network and a better speed than Jio in most regions of the country. But all that might change in the coming days. Jio acquired a ton of spectrum in the recently held auctions by spending close to Rs 60,000 crore. With the additional spectrum, the telco is expected to boost its network experience for the users. At the same time, Airtel’s growth might diminish if it goes for tariff hikes later this year. The telco is aiming for a larger market share before it increases the tariffs. Airtel has been gaining grounds and capturing more market share every quarter that follows. Is Jio nervous about that? Well, it must be. That said, Jio is still far ahead of Airtel and can change things in a jiffy with a more premium network experience for the users.
