Reliance Jio ends BSNL's dominance in wireline services
What's the story
BSNL has been synonymous with fixed-line service in India for over two decades. Well, not anymore. Reliance Jio is now the country's premier wireline service provider with 73.52 lakh subscribers, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) Telecom Subscriptions report. This is the first time a private operator has secured the top position in the wireline segment.
Context
Why does this story matter?
State-owned landline service providers have been notorious for their unreliability. Despite that, they controlled the market for several years. Even when private service providers started making inroads, BSNL continued to exert its dominance. The curtain has finally fallen on that dominance. This is a reality check for state-run providers. Where they go from here will depend on how they deal with this.
Data
Jio has a market share of 28.31% in wireline segment
According to TRAI's subscription data till August 31, 2022, Reliance Jio has a 28.31% market share compared to BSNL's 27.46%. The latter's subscriber base stood at 71.32 lakh. Bharti Airtel is in the third position with a market share of 23.86%. Jio and Airtel's subscribers grew by 2.62 lakh and 1.19 lakh, respectively, from July to August.
Public or private
BSNL and MTNL lost thousands of customers
Public sector has been continuously losing its market share in the wireline segment. That trend continued in August as well. The PSUs' share fell from 38.10% in July to 37.48% in August. BSNL and MTNL, two major public players, lost 15,734 and 13,395 subscribers, respectively. Private sector companies now control 62.52% of the landline market.
Wireline
Total number of wireline subscribers in India increased
In India, the number of wireline subscribers grew from 25.63 million in July to 25.97 million in August. Of the total, 92.35% of subscribers of fixed-line are in urban areas. Delhi has the most number of wireline subscribers followed by Mumbai and Karnataka. Reliance Jio is now the leading service provider in wireless, wireline, and broadband segments.