Jio and Airtel are the only two telcos currently offering 5G services in India
Indian operator Reliance Jio Infocomm added a total of 3.59 mobile subscribers during February, taking its overall market share above 40% for the first time, according to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Jio ended February with 467.6 million subscribers, representing a market share of 40.15%. Jio had recorded an addition of 4.17 million subscribers in India during January.
India’s second-largest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, added 1.53 million connections during February to take its total number of subscribers to 384 million and its market share to 32.97%.
Both telcos had extensive 4G and 5G networks across the country. In the 5G segment, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel have already attracted tens of million customers, according to local press reports.
Meanwhile, cash-strapped Vodafone Idea lost 1.02 million connections in February, a slight improvement compared to the 1.52 million connections it shed in January. The company ended February with a total of 220.5 million mobile connections, according to TRAI. The telco ended the month with a market share of 18.93%. Vodafone Idea is currently in the process of raising funds to expand its 4G coverage and launch 5G.
State-owned operator BSNL also experienced a decline during the second month of the year, with its total number of mobile connections declining by 170,000. In January, the telco had lost a total of 1.17 million customers. BSNL ended February with 90.4 million mobile connections and a market share of 7.78%.
According to TRAI’s data India ended February with more than 1.16 billion mobile connections.
India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) recently decided to postpone its upcoming spectrum auction from May 20 to June 6.
According to the reports, the decision to push back the auction was chiefly due to allow the process to take place after the country’s general elections. India’s general election is slated to start on April 19, while the results are expected to be revealed on June 4.
The report also noted that the mock auction originally expected to take place on May 13-14 has also been pushed back to June 3.
In the upcoming auction, 5G airwaves in 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz and 26 GHz bands will be put up for sale.
According to sources with knowledge of the matter, the auction will only draw a few bids from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for renewing their frequencies.
The permits of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea will expire in 2024 in some of India’s geographic circles. Airtel’s airwave renewals this year are in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in the circles of J&K, Odisha, Bihar, UP-East, West Bengal and Assam. Vodafone Idea faces spectrum renewals in West Bengal (900 MHz and 1800 MHz) and UP-West (900 MHz).
