ITV

Tag: Vodafone Idea

  • Net mobile subscribers decline in May: TRAI

    Net mobile subscribers decline in May: TRAI

    Mumbai: India’s telecom market saw a 6.2 million net decline in mobile subscribers at the end of May, according to the latest monthly subscription data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

    Reliance Jio was the only wireless access service provider that added 3.5 million mobile subscribers. Previous data shows that the telecom company added 4.7 million mobile subscribers in April.

    Bharti Airtel saw its mobile subscribers reduce by 4.6 million (including the subscribers of Tata Teleservices), the highest loss, followed closely by Vodafone Idea which lost 4.2 million customers. This is several multiples higher than the subscriber decline reported in April which stood at 0.51 million and 1.8 million for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, respectively.

    Similarly, the number of telephone subscribers came down from 1,203.47 million at the end of April to 1,198.50 million at the end of May, at a monthly decline rate of 0.41 per cent. TRAI had reported a monthly growth rate of 0.19 per cent and 1.12 per cent for telephone subscribers in the preceding months of April and March, respectively. Also, Urban and rural telephone monthly subscription decline rates for May stood at 0.47 per cent and 0.34 per cent, respectively.

    The overall tele-density in India decreased from 88.27 per cent at the end of April to 87.84 per cent at the end of May. The share of urban and rural subscribers out of total number of subscribers stood at 55.17 per cent and 44.83 per cent, respectively.

    As per reports received from 438 operators in May, the number of broadband subscribers decreased from 782.86 million at the end of April to 780.27 million at the end of May with a monthly decline rate of 0.33 per cent, according to TRAI data. While mobile subscribers and fixed wireless subscribers.

    (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point to Point Radio & VSAT) saw monthly decline rates of 0.38 per cent and 2.45 per cent respectively, wired subscribers grew to 22.74 million from 22.42 million at a 1.43 per cent monthly growth rate.

    The top five service providers made up 98.80 per cent of the market share of the total broadband subscribers including wired and wireless at the end of May. These included Reliance Jio Infocomm (434.23 million), Bharti Airtel (192. 73 million), Vodafone Idea (119.64 million), BSNL (22.4 million) and Atria Convergence (1.87 million).

  • Reliance Jio maintains lead, gains 4.7 million users in April: TRAI

    Reliance Jio maintains lead, gains 4.7 million users in April: TRAI

    New Delhi: Reliance Jio’s reign over the market continues, as the telecom major added 4.7 million mobile subscribers in April, according to the latest data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Its subscriber base has now reached 427.6 million across the country.

    The Mukesh Ambani-led company had earlier doubled the net mobile user additions in March compared to February.

    However, its rival Vodafone Idea lost 1.8 million customers in April, after gaining 1.08 million subscribers in March. Its subscriber base has now dropped to 281.9 million in April.

    Bharti Airtel also recorded a decline in the number of net subscriber additions. The company added 0.51 million wireless customers in April, compared to 4.05 million subscribers in March. Its user base rose marginally to 352.9 million.


    x`Overall, the number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,201.20 million at the end of March to 1,203.47 million at the end of April, showing a monthly growth rate of 0.19 per cent over the previous month. “The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.08 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively, during the month of April,” said the regulatory body.

    The overall tele-density in India increased from 88.17 per cent at the end of March to 88.27 per cent at the end of April. The share of urban subscribers in the total number of telephone subscribers at the end of April was 55.20 per cent, while it was 44.80 per cent for the rural areas.

    As per the reports received from 438 operators in the month of April, 2021, the number of broadband subscribers increased from 778.09 million at the end of March to 782.86 million at the end of April with a monthly growth rate of 0.61 per cent, said TRAI.

    The top five service providers constituted 98.8 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of April. These included- Reliance Jio Infocomm (430.47 million), Bharti Airtel (194.18 million), Vodafone Idea (122.54 million), BSNL (24.52 million) and Atria Convergence (1.87 million).

  • Reliance Jio tops net mobile user additions in March: TRAI

    New Delhi: Reliance Jio has gained over 79 lakh mobile users in March, securing a comfortable lead over rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, according to the latest monthly data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

    The Mukesh Ambani-led company took its customer base to about 42.29 crore. The net mobile user additions in March are double the number recorded in February when the company had added over 42 lakh users.

    On the other hand, Airtel’s user base rose to 35.23 crore with the addition of 40.5 lakh wireless users in March, while Vodafone Idea gained 10.8 lakh customers during March, compared to the previous month. The latter’s customer base has now grown to 28.37 crore, as of 31 March.

    According to the TRAI data for March, the number of telephone subscribers in India rose to 120 crore, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 1.12 per cent. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscriptions were 0.92 per cent and 1.37 per cent respectively as of 31 March.

    The total wireless subscribers increased to 118 crore at the end of March, recording a monthly growth rate of 1.13 per cent. Wireless subscriptions in urban areas increased to 64.5 crore at the end of March and that in rural areas rose to 53.5 crore during the same period. Monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscriptions were 0.93 per cent and 1.38 per cent respectively.

    All service areas except Kerala showed growth in their wireless subscribers during the month of March-21. Mumbai area showed maximum growth of 2.93 per cent in its wireless subscriber base during the month.

    According to TRAI, the private access service providers held 89.6 per cent market share of the wireless subscribers while the two PSU access service providers BSNL and MTNL had a market share of only 10.32 per cent, as of 31 March.

    “As per the reports received from 421 operators in the month of March 2021, the number of broadband subscribers increased from 76.5 crore at the end of February 2021 to 77.8 crore at the end of March 2021 with a monthly growth rate of 1.70 per cent, “said the telecom regulator.

    The top five service providers constituted 98.82 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers. Among these service providers were Reliance Jio (42.5 crore), Bharti Airtel (19.1 crore), Vodafone Idea (12.3 crore).

  • Vodafone Idea appoints Shabnam Syed as EVP, postpaid marketing

    Vodafone Idea appoints Shabnam Syed as EVP, postpaid marketing

    Mumbai: Vodafone Idea on Thursday appointed Shabnam Syed as executive vice president of postpaid marketing as the telco looks to increase its focus on bringing high value customers to its network.

    Prior to joining Vi, Shabnam was with GoAir as vice-president- marketing and ecommerce.  Syed has more than two decades of expertise in advertising and marketing technique, digital advertising and marketing and analytics and model administration amongst others.

    “We’re delighted to welcome Shabnam Syed at VIL as EVP Submit Paid Advertising and marketing. Shabnam Syed brings huge expertise throughout diversified business segments which is able to assist us curate services for our published paid buyer base. Previous to VIL, she was VP–advertising and marketing and Ecommerce at Go Air,” Vodafone Idea announced on its LinkedIn page.

  • Vodafone Idea appoints Reema Jain as chief digital officer

    Vodafone Idea appoints Reema Jain as chief digital officer

    New Delhi: Vodafone Idea Ltd has appointed Reema Jain as its chief digital officer. She will lead the company’s digital strategies, execution, and adoption.

    Jain will report directly to managing director and chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar.

    She was previously associated with FMCG major Unilever as head of IT where she was responsible for Supply Chain delivering Digital solutions. Jain spent five years at Unilever and has also served the company at the global level as IT Director – Digital Integration and IT Director –Application Management. Before Unilever, she worked as Oracle’s Technology Leader at GE.

    With over two decades of experience in the industry, Jain has expertise in IT Strategy, Technology Delivery, Digital Solutions, Transformation Project Management, Operational Excellence, and Agile Methodologies. 

  • Jio overtakes Hathway wired broadband subscriber base in Jun-20

    Jio overtakes Hathway wired broadband subscriber base in Jun-20

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) has been the largest broadband internet services provider in the country – a major portion of its subscriber base is wireless internet – through the mobile phone. However, the player is also making strides in terms of customer acquisition for its wireline broadband internet services. Per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for the month ended 30 June 2020 (Jun-20), Jio climbed up one spot to fourth place in terms of wireline broadband internet subscribers, pushing down its sister company Hathway Cable & Datacom (Hathway) to fifth rank. Overall, wired broadband internet subscriber base grew 2.29 percent month-on-month (m-o-m) to 1.982 crore (198.2 lakh, 19.82 million) in Jun-20 from 1.938 crore (193.8 lakh, 19.38 crore) in May-19. Jio’s wireline subscriber base grew 9.3 percent m-o-m in Jun-19 to 0.106 crore (10.6 lakh, 1.06 million) from 0.097 crore (9.7 lakh, 0.97 million) in May-20.

    The public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) had the largest wireline internet subscriber base of 0.79 crore (79 lakh, 7.9 million) in Jun-19 as compared to 0.793 crore (79.3 lakh, 7.93 million) in the previous month. Bharati Airtel (Airtel) was ranked second in terms of wireline broadband subscriber base. The telecom major closed June 2020 with 0.247 crore (24.7 lakh, 2.47 million) subscribers, up by around 60,000 as compared to the 0.241 crore (24.1 lakh, 2.41 million) wireline broadband subscribers in May-20. 

    Read more news on Hathway

    At third place was Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT) with 0.168 crore (16.8 lakh, 1.68 million). Subscribers as compared to 0.164 crore (16.4 lakh, 1.64 million).As mentioned above, Jio was ranked fourth followed by Hathway at fifth rank. Hathway subscriber base grew by 70,000 to 0.097 crore (9.7 lakh, 0.97 million) in Jun-20 from 0.09 crore (9 lakh, 0.9 million) in May-20. Please refer to the figure below:

    All Broadband Internet Subscribers

    Subscriber base across All Broadband Internet platforms grew 2.11 percent in Jun-20 to 69.823 crore (6,982.3 lakh, 698.23 million) from 68.377 crore (6,837.7 lakh, 683.77 million) at the end of the previous week. Subscriber base growth was led by Mobile devices users to 67.779 crore (6,777.9 lakh, 677.79 million) at the end of Jun-20 from 66.378 crore (6,637.8 lakh, 663.78 million) in May-30. Fixed wireless subscribers (Wi-I, Wi-Max, Point-to-Point Radio and VSAT) grew by 2.23 percent to 0.063 crore (6.3 lakh, 0.63 million) in Jun-20 from 0.061 crore (6.1 lakh, 0.61 million) above. Data for wireline subscribers have been indicated above.

    Read more news on Jio

    Please refer to the figure below:

    The top five service providers constituted 98.93 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of June-20. These service providers wereJio with 39.831 crore (3,9831 lakh, 398.31 million), Airtel 15.13 crore (1,513 lakh, 151.30 million), Vodafone Idea with 11.645 crore (1,164.5 lakh, 116.45 million), BSNL 2.3 crore (230 lakh, 23 million) and ACT with 0.168 crore (16.8 lakh, 1.68 million).

    As on 30th June, 2020, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Jio with 38.725 crore (3,972.5 lakh, 397.25 million), Bharti Airtel with 14.884 crore (1,488.4 lakh, 148.84 million), Vodafone Idea with 11.644 crore (1,164.4 lakh, 116.44 million), BSNL with 1.51 crore (151 lakh, 15.10 million) and MTNL with 0.016 crore (1.6 lakh, 0.16 million).

  • Vodafone Idea Installs Protective Shields At Telecom Outlets To Keep Customers And Retailers Safe

    Vodafone Idea Installs Protective Shields At Telecom Outlets To Keep Customers And Retailers Safe

    MUMBAI: With the reopening of telecom retail outlets, Vodafone Idea customers will once again be able to access services across the counter. Ensuring safe distancing in the context of the current pandemic for its retail personnel and customers, and shortly after introducing the industry first contactless recharges through Google voice enabled feature, Vodafone Idea has done another innovation by installing protective shields at telecom retail outlets in Delhi NCR.

    Recharge outlets and smartphone retailers in the capital are now donning these safe shields made of hard MDF board and transparent PVC sheet which are simple, efficient and easy to maintain. The shields prevent direct contact between the retail personnel and customers, even while facilitating customer service efficiently, and ensures complete social distancing within the store premises.

    Speaking about the new Retailer Shield initiative, Arvinder Singh Sachdeva, Operations Director, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “As a responsible, service oriented telecom operator, it has been our constant endeavor to keep our customers connected on Delhi NCR’s fastest 4G network during the Covid lockdown and enable efficient services to them while they stay home safely. With the resumption of commercial activities and opening of our stores, we are taking full care to ensure safe health of our retailers and customers in Delhi & NCR. We have installed protective shields at Telecom outlets across Delhi NCR to safely and efficiently deliver services to our customers through these outlets.”  

    Vodafone Idea is also taking proactive measures to keep customers and store staff safe at Company Retail stores. Starting from hourly sanitization, strict adherence to social distancing norms like safe marking inside stores, queue management outside the stores, one customer per counter, and encouraging and assisting customer to move from touch based transaction to fully digital transaction are some of the other processes being followed at the stores which have reopened.

    Throughout the lockdown period, Vodafone Idea has undertaken a slew of operational and service related initiatives to ensure customers remain connected. Examples:

    –          Google Voice-based contactless recharges at stores

    –          Introduced multiple digital modes of recharges and bill payments for customers to avail services from the comfort and safety of their homes

    –          #RechargeForGood initiative to enable digital savvy customers to recharge for digitally unconnected

    –          Launch of industry first, AI powered, virtual service assistant on Whatsapp

    –          Enabled 2G customers to recharge through SMS and USSD

    –          Rs 10 talk time credit and extension of unrestricted incoming service to 100 million low income customers

    –          Home delivery of SIM cards

    Vodafone Idea is verified as the fastest 4G network in Delhi NCR by global testing agency Ookla.

    Vodafone Idea customers who wish to continue availing our services remotely, can reach out to us through our call centre, My Vodafone and My Idea apps, and through the AI powered bot on Whatsapp and Website.

  • Paytm enables Vodafone Idea recharges for crores using feature phones with their UPI ID

    Paytm enables Vodafone Idea recharges for crores using feature phones with their UPI ID

    India’s leading financial services platform Paytm is now empowering feature phone users to recharge for their Vodafone Idea numbers with just a valid UPI ID. Along with the telecom major and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to extend this service throughout the country. The move would help crore of citizens who mostly use feature mobile phones to now top up their numbers without having the need to visit physical stores. The company added said that there is no need to have a mobile-internet data facility and non-Paytm app users can also easily avail of this service.

    Paytm said that this service is based on the NPCI’s innovative payment service *99# which works on the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel. This service allows mobile banking transactions using basic feature phones without the need of having a mobile internet data facility for using USSD based banking. It is envisioned at the financial inclusion of the underbanked in mainstream banking services.

    Paytm which is working towards the ultimate goal of bringing half a billion Indians into the mainstream economy, has taken part in this initiative to ensure that millions of migrants who might be away from home and have limited means, stay connected with their families.

    Abhay Sharma, Sr. Vice President – Paytm said, "There are over 550 million feature phone users in the country. A majority of them are migrants and daily wage earners. Due to the ongoing lockdown, many people who rely mainly on mobile phone stores, recharge kiosks are finding it difficult to top-up their basic feature phones which rarely have internet data facility. This USSD based service would help all these individuals. Through this partnership with Vodafone Idea and NPCI, we will reach out to all these individuals and support them in these testing times."

    Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI said, “We believe our USSD service would facilitate feature phone users having a UPI ID, to constantly keep in touch with their near and dear ones even if they don’t find mobile recharge shops in their localities. The *99# service is a welcome move, especially in the current situation. With just a UPI Id, people using feature phones can recharge their phones on-the-go without the internet. The USSD service would also help people register their UPI IDs on BHIM UPI and provide them with a seamless mobile recharge experience”.

    Avneesh Khosla, Director-Marketing, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “It is our constant endeavour to ensure that our customers remain connected and safe during these times. In the last 2 months, we have launched a slew of initiatives to help consumers stay connected. We believe that this partnership with Paytm will help facilitate a large number of our digitally unconnected customers to recharge through USSD without being dependent on mobile internet, any digital app, or a physical retail touchpoint. Through this partnership we will be able to provide a simple and secure solution, enhancing the convenience factor to these pre-paid customers during very testing times so as to ensure that our consumers do not have to leave the safety of their homes to recharge their phones." The company said that there are two ways of recharging the phone using this service. If a customer's UPI ID is not registered with BHIM UPI, they then need to Dial *99# after which they are shown all bank accounts linked with the mobile number from where the USSD is dialled in. The customer then selects the bank account he wants to register his UPI ID with and sets up a UPI PIN.

    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • Broadband subscriber growth picks up in October 2019

    Broadband subscriber growth picks up in October 2019

    BENGALURU: Overall broadband internet subscribers in India grew by 1.866 crore or 2.98 per cent  in the month ended 31 October 2019 (Oct-19) from the numbers reported by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for the month ended 30 September 2019 (Sep-19). TRAI reported 62.542 crore (625.42 million or 6,254.2 lakh) broadband internet subscribers across all segments for Sep-19. This number grew to 64.408 crore (644.08 million or 6,440.8 lakh) in Oct-19 as per the latest numbers published by Trai.

    Subscriber growth for Oct-19 was the third highest over a 22-month period starting Jan-18 until Oct-19 in absolute numbers. In percentage terms, Oct-19 saw the ninth highest growth during the same period. Over the period under consideration in the paper, broadband internet subscriber growth has been on a decline as is evident from the black trend line the graph below:

    The figure below shows the subscriber growth ranking for the months during the period under consideration in this paper in terms of absolute growth numbers as well as per centage terms.

    Trai data reveals that broadband subscribers grew by 1.857 crore (18.57 million or 185.7 lakh) or 3.06 per cent to 62.441 crore in Oct-19 from 60.584 crore (605.84 million or 6,054.8 lakh) in Sep-19 on the Mobiles (Phones and dongles) segment. Wired broadband internet segment grew by 0.007 crore (0.07 million or 0.07 lakh) or 0.37 per cent in Oct-19 to 1.908 crore(19.08 million or 190.8 lakh) from 1.901 crore (19.01 million or 190.1 lakh) in Sep-19. Fixed wireless – WiFi, WiMax, Point to Pont, Radio, Vsat subscribers grew 0.002 crore (0.02 million or 0.2 lakh) or 4.22 per cent to 0.059 crore (0.59 million or 5.9 lakh) in Oct-19 from 0.057 crore (0.57 million or 5.7 lakh) in the previous month.

    Please refer to the figure below.

    Top 5 Broadband Internet Subscribers

    According to Trai data, the top five broadband internet service providers constituted 98.98 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Oct-19. These service providers were Reliance JioInfocom Ltd 36.512 crore (365.12 million or 3,651.2 lakh), Bharti Airtel 13.286 crore (132.86 million or 1,328.6 lakh), Vodafone Idea 11.580 crore (115.80 million or 1,158 lakh), BSNL 2.27 crore (22.27 million or 2,227 lakh) and Atria Convergence 0.149 crore (1.49 million or 14.9 lakh).

    Top 5 wireless broadband internet subscribers

    As on 31 October, 2019, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd with 36.433 crore (364.33 million or 3,643.3 lakh), Bharti Airtel with 13.045 crore (130.45 million or 1,304.5 lakh), Vodafone Idea with 11.578 crore (115.78 million or 1,157.8 lakh), BSNL with 1.364 crore (13.64 million 136.4 lakh) and MTNL with 0.02 crore (0.20 million or 20 lakh) subscribers.

    Top 5 wired broadband internet subscribers

    As on 31 October, 2019, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL with 0.862 crore (8.62 million, 86.2 lakh), Bharti Airtel 0.24 crore (2.40 million or 24 lakh), Atria Convergence Technologies with 0.149 crore (1.49 million or 14.9 lakh), Hathway Cable & Datacom with 0.087 crore (0.87 million or 8.7 lakh) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 0.079 crore (0.79 million or 7.9 lakh). Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited is a new entrant to the top 5 list in October 2019. It replaced You Broadband which had 0.075 crore (0.75 million or 7.9 lakh) broadband internet subscribers in Sep-19. BSNL and Bharti Airtel Limited both lost wired broadband internet subscribers in Oct-19.

    The top five wired broadband internet service providers lost 80,000 subscribers in Oct-19. Since the wired internet broadband subscriber base grew by 70,000 during the same period, other smaller service providers which include MSOs and LCOs must have added 150,000 subscribers in Oct-19.

  • TRAI telecom data shows rise in broadband subscribers in Dec 2019

    TRAI telecom data shows rise in broadband subscribers in Dec 2019

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the telecom subscription data as on December 2019. As per the reports received from 341 operators in the month of December, 2019, the number of broadband subscribers increased from 661.27 million at the end of November 2019 to 661.94 million at the end of December 2019 with a monthly growth rate of 0.10%.

    Top five service providers constituted 98.98% market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of December 2019. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (370.87 million), Bharti Airtel (140.40 million), Vodafone Idea (118.45 million), BSNL (23.96 million) and Atria Convergence (1.52 million).

    As on 31st December, 2019, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL (8.39 million), Bharti Airtel (2.42 million), Atria Convergence Technologies (1.52 million), Hathway Cable & Datacom (0.90 million) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (0.86 million).

    As on 31 December 2019, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd (370.02 million), Bharti Airtel (137.98 million), Vodafone Idea (118.43 million), BSNL (15.56 million) and MTNL (0.20 million).

    There is, however, a decline in the number of telephone subscribers. It has declined from 1,175.88 million at the end of Nov-19 to 1,172.44 million at the end of Dec-19, thereby showing a monthly decline rate of 0.29%.

    Urban telephone subscription declined from 665.99 million at the end of Nov-19 to 662.45 million at the end of Dec-19, and the rural subscription increased from 509.89 million to 509.99 million during the same period.

    Wireline subscribers declined from 21.29 million at the end of Nov-19 to 21.00 million at the end of Dec-19. Net decline in the wireline subscriber base was 0.29 million with a monthly decline rate of 1.34%. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 87.95% and 12.05% respectively at the end of Dec-19.

    BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, held 60.47% of the wireline market share as on 31 December, 2019. The Overall Wireline Tele-density declined from 1.61 at the end of Nov-19 to 1.59 at the end of Dec-19. Urban and Rural Wireline Tele-density were 4.36 and 0.28 respectively during the same period.