Airtel
loses over 1.06 lakh active subscribers; Vodafone Idea and BSNL also register
declines
THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR,
OCTOBER 30, 2026
Reliance Jio has
further consolidated its leadership position in Odisha’s telecom market,
emerging as the only service provider to register a significant addition to its
active mobile subscriber base in September 2026, with over 4.8 lakh new active
users, even as rival operators witnessed a decline in their respective
subscriber numbers, according to the latest data released by the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The data shows that
while Jio added over 4.8 lakh active mobile subscribers in Odisha during
September, Bharti Airtel recorded a loss of more than 1.06 lakh active
subscribers. Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) also
registered declines, losing over 8,000 and 9,000 active mobile subscribers,
respectively, during the month. Jio now commands over 53.8 per cent of the
state's active mobile subscriber base, further strengthening its dominant
position in the market.
The overall mobile
subscriber base in Odisha also registered healthy growth during September,
increasing by over two lakh to cross the 3.94-crore mark. In terms of net
subscriber additions, Jio led the market by a considerable margin, adding the
highest 1.88 lakh mobile subscribers during the month. Airtel followed with
around 15,000 additions, while BSNL added approximately 12,000 subscribers.
Vodafone Idea, however, witnessed a decline of over 7,000 mobile subscribers in
the state during the same period.
Jio also sustained
its strong growth momentum in Odisha's home broadband segment, adding over
12,000 new JioFiber and JioAirFiber connections in September. With these
additions, the company’s total home broadband subscriber base in the state has
crossed 8.33 lakh, giving it a commanding customer market share of over 59.4
per cent in the segment. The continued expansion reflects the growing adoption
of Jio's fixed broadband and wireless home internet services across the state.
At the national
level, Jio continued its impressive growth trajectory, adding the highest 27.12
lakh mobile subscribers in September. According to analyst reports based on the
latest telecom subscription data, India's core mobile subscriber base,
excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, grew by 2.2 million
month-on-month to reach 1.15 billion. Of the total net additions, Jio accounted
for 1.9 million subscribers, while Airtel added only 0.2 million. This means
Jio contributed nearly ten times as many core mobile subscribers as Airtel
during the month.
Jio also maintained
its lead in the overall mobile subscriber base, with 511.14 million subscribers
nationally, compared with Airtel's 494.29 million, further consolidating its
position as India's largest telecom operator in terms of subscriber numbers.
The company's lead was even more pronounced in the active subscriber category. The industry's core Visitor Location Register (VLR)-based active subscriber base grew by 0.6 million in September, with Jio alone registering an addition of 1.3 million active users. In contrast, Airtel lost 0.2 million active subscribers, while Vodafone Idea recorded a decline of 0.3 million during the month.
Notably, Jio's addition of active subscribers exceeded the industry's overall net growth, indicating that subscriber losses among other operators partially offset its gains. The trend underscores Jio's continued ability to attract and retain active customers, reflecting its expanding network reach, growing service adoption and strong market presence across the country.
