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Reliance Jio continued its subscriber growth in November 2025, leading the industry in overall wireless additions and active user gains as per the latest monthly subscription data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The TRAI data showed that Jio added 1.2 million subscribers, extending its lead over Bharti Airtel for the ninth consecutive month. The performance came during a period when the industry's total active (Visitor Location Register) subscribers fell by 3.4 million to 1,091 million. While other major operators reported net losses in active users, Jio was the only player to post positive gains. Specifically, Vodafone Idea (VIL) saw a drop of 2.2 million active users, while Bharti Airtel recorded a decline of 1.7 million. The momentum for Jio was reflected in its market share, with the operator gaining VLR share in 17 out of 22 telecom circles. The most significant gains were observed in the Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab regions. Morgan Stanley noted that "RJio's market share rose to 43.7% (+25bps MoM), while all other operators lost market share MoM." This trend further reduced the active subscriber share gap between Jio and Bharti Airtel to an all-time low. In the broadband segment, Jio maintained its dominance by capturing approximately 68 per cent of the total additions across mobile broadband, fixed wireless access (FWA), and unlicensed band radio (UBR). Jio remained ahead of Bharti Airtel in overall broadband rollouts primarily due to its UBR expansion, which added 0.35 million users during the month. The data also highlighted Jio's strength in the fixed wireless segment. Morgan Stanley reported that "on FWA, Jio added almost 2.5x FWA subs (FWA 5G+ FWA UBR) vs Airtel." Both Jio and Bharti Airtel added 0.25 million 5G FWA subscribers each, but Jio's additional UBR gains solidified its lead in the home broadband category. Despite the pullback in active subscribers during November, the sector's active additions for the 2025 calendar year to date remain at a nine-year high. Industry observers expect that the current subscriber additions and rising data penetration will support future growth in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) as the market construct remains favourable. (ANI)
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