Major private telecom operators in India such as Jio, Airtel and Vi hiked their mobile tariff in July this year. The recent hike increased the price of both prepaid and postpaid recharge plans by up to 15 percent. Considering this, many telecom subscribers in India started migration to BSNL due to its affordable recharge plans. Following this, BSNL gained lakh of new users in July and the same trend has continued in August as well, as per TRAI's latest report.
BSNL’s new subscribers in August
In August, BSNL continued its positive trend, again being the only provider to gain subscribers. The company added 25 lakh new users, while Jio lost 40 lakh , Airtel saw a drop of 24 lakh, and Vodafone Idea was down by 19 lakh.
In July, BSNL gained nearly 3 million new subscribers, contrasting sharply with its competitors, including major players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, all of whom experienced losses. Specifically, Airtel lost 17 lakh users, Vodafone Idea saw a decline of 14 lakh, and Jio's user base decreased by almost 8 lakh.
BSNL current market share
Despite this growth, BSNL's market share remains significantly lower than that of its larger private competitors. As of the end of August, Jio leads the market with a share of 40.5 percent, followed by Airtel at 33 percent, and Vodafone Idea at 18 percent. BSNL holds just 7.8 percent of the market, which increases to 8 percent when including MTNL's 0.2 percent share, according to TRAI.
BSNL's competitive edge seems to stem from its low tariffs, which is reflected in its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) score—a crucial metric for assessing individual consumer contribution. BSNL's ARPU is estimated to be under Rs 100, around Rs 90, in stark contrast to Airtel's Rs 211, Jio's Rs 195, and Vodafone Idea's Rs 146. This indicates that the public sector telecom operator charges the least from its consumers.
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