India’s wireless mobile connection base grew by 6.57 million in September, with Reliance Jio narrowly ahead of Bharti Airtel as the reported total reached 1.30 billion, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data showed.
TRAI put the month-end figure at 1,300.00 million, up from 1,293.43 million in August. Its measure adds consumer SIMs and machine-to-machine (M2M) SIMs together, so it counts connections rather than people.
Jio recorded 2,712,632 net additions, 20,536 more than Airtel’s 2,692,096. Their combined increase was 5.40 million. BSNL added 625,633 connections and Vodafone Idea added 550,119, while MTNL’s total declined by 6,628.
M2M SIMs accounted for 144.85 million of the September figure. Without those connections, the wireless mobile total was 1,155.15 million.
Urban areas added 5.01 million connections, ending the month at 753.85 million; growth was 0.67%. The rural total reached 546.14 million after a 1.56 million increase, or 0.29%.
