Reliance Jio Became Largest Landline Service Provider Of CountryWith 7.35 million landline connections as on August 31, Reliance Jio pips state-owned telecom operator and hitherto market leader BSNL's 7.13 million connections

Reliance Jio became the largest landline service provider in the country for the first time, in August. According to a data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), it is stated that, with 7.35 million landline connections as on August 31, Reliance Jio pips state-owned telecom operator and hitherto market leader BSNL's 7.13 million connections.

The report also added that the overall telecom subscriber base in the country grew marginally to 117.5 crore in August, with Jio adding most of the new customers and rural areas growing at a higher rate than urban centres.

TRAI had earlier reporter that the declining number of landline connections in the country as a cause for concern since the same network is also used to deliver fixed-line broadband services. Largely dominated by BSNL and MTNL, the number of landline connections declined from 36.76 million in 2010 to 20.58 million in 2020.

"The number of telephone subscribers increased from 11737.7 million at the end of July 2022 to 1175.1 million at the end of August, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.1 per cent. Monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscriptions were 0.1 and 0.14 per cent respectively," stated the report.

As per the report, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel added 0.3 million subscribers in August. It had added 0.5 million and 0.7 million subscribers in July and June, respectively. Third-placed Vodafone Idea continued to lose subscribers; 1.9 million in August against 1.5 million in July.