As per the TRAI subscriber data, Reliance Jio, with its all 4G network, continued to lead in new subscriber additions by adding 3.55 lakh subscribers in Odisha in February 2019, followed by BSNL which added 1.51 lakhs new subscribers in the month. Among other service providers, both Vodafone Idea and Airtel lost subscribers in the month with Vodafone Idea alone losing 2.35 lakh subscribers, as per the data released recently by TRAI. With this, the total subscriber base of Jio in the state has now surpassed 87 lakhs, achieving 26.2% customer market share in the state as on 28th February 2019. Among others
The total mobile subscriber base in Odisha reached over 3.35 crores as on 28th February, wherein Airtel has 1.31 crore subscribers followed by Reliance Jio with 88 lakh subscribers, BSNL 57 lakhs, Vodafone Idea 54.58 lakhs and Tata Teleservices 4.6 lakhs subscribers. As per the TRAI subscriber data, Odisha also witnessed significant increase in tele density to 77.7%, though it continues to remain among the bottom five states in terms of tele density.
Nationally also, Reliance Jio continued its lead in new subscriber additions around 78 lakhs new subscribers in the Month of February followed by BSNL, which added around 9 lakh new subscribers across the country. It may be noted here that in its recently announced quarterly financial results Reliance Jio has announced to have surpassed 30 crore subscribers mark nationally. With this Jio has now become the No. 2 telecom operator in terms of subscribers overtaking Bharti Airtel and inching closer to Vodafone Idea which presently has the highest number of subscribers in the country.
It is worth mentioning that Jio has continuously been driving the new subscriber additions in Odisha over last several months and added the highest number of subscribers in all months of 2018 with significant subscriber additions in rural areas. The affordable 4G feature-rich JioPhone of Reliance Jio has been gaining big traction in rural areas wherein hitherto unconnected people are now being connected through a unique digital transformation in their daily lives. It may be noted here that the telecom service providers’ performance indicator report published by TRAI for Oct-Dec 2018 quarter revealed that nearly 66% of mobile subscribers in Odisha are from Rural areas.
Prasanta Patnaik