BSNL gains 2.9 mln subscribers as Airtel, Vi lose subscribers in July 2024: TRAI

BSNL gains, Airtel loses subscribers in July: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently shared the monthly subscriber data for the month of July 2024. As per the report, the government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) gained 2.69 million subscribers after major telecom operators in the country, including Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio, announced a tariff hike. The data shared by the regulatory body shows that while all the three private telecom companies lost subscribers, Airtel witnessed a maximum decline in its subscriber base.

While Airtel lost 1.69 million subscribers in the month of July, Vodafone Idea lost 1.4 million subscribers, while Jio lost 7.58 million subscribers in the month of July.

Wireless subscribers decrease in July 2024

The Telecom Subscription Data shared by TRAI also showed a decline in the total number of wireless subscribers in the month of July 2024. According to the report, the total number of wireless subscribers decreased from 1,170.53 million at the end of June 2024 to 1,169.61 million at the end of July 2024. "Except Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kolkata, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat, Assam and UP(West) all other service areas have showed decline in their wireless subscribers during the month of July 24," TRAI wrote in its report for July 2024.

TRAI's report also showed that this decline in wireless subscriber base can largely be attributed to the decrease in the wireless subscriptions in rural areas. As per the report, the wireless subscriptions in rural areas decreased from
535.53 million at the end of June 2024 to 534.15 million at the end of July 2024. On the contrary, the wireless subscriptions in urban areas increased from 635 million at the end of June 2024 to 635.46 million at the end of July 2024.

Mobile Network Portability requests increase in July 2024

The data shared by TRAI also showed that the number of requests for mobile number portability increased significantly in July 2024. "In the month of July, 2024, 13.68 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). With this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 997.44 million at the end of June-24 to 1011.13 million at the end of July-24, since implementation of MNP," TRAI wrote in its report.

"During the month of July-24, a total of 13.68 million requests were received for MNP. Out of total 13.68 million, new requests received from Zone-I and Zone-II were 7.60 million and 6.09 million respectively," TRAI added.