BSNL has been providing wireline services for the past 22 years, whereas Jio only began offering wireline services three years ago.
Digital Desk: According to a Trai report released on Tuesday, private telecom operator Reliance Jio surpassed state-run BSNL in August to become the country's largest fixed-line service provider.
This is the first time in the country's history that a private operator has held the number one position in the wireline segment.
According to Trai's August subscriber report, Jio's wireline subscriber base reached 73.52 lakh, while BSNL's was 71.32 lakh.
BSNL has been providing wireline services for the past 22 years, whereas Jio only began offering wireline services three years ago.
The country's wireline subscribers increased to 2.59 crore in August, up from 2.56 crore in July.
The private sector dominated growth, with Jio adding 2.62 lakh new customers, Bharti Airtel adding 1.19 lakh, Vodafone Idea (Vi) adding 4,202, and Tata Teleservices adding 3,769.
In August, state-owned telecom firms BSNL and MTNL lost 15,734 and 13,395 wireline customers, respectively.
According to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report, the country's overall telecom subscriber base increased marginally to 117.5 crore in August, with Jio adding the majority of new customers and rural areas growing faster than urban areas.
"The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,173.66 million at the end of July-22 to 1,175.08 million at the end of August-22, indicating a monthly growth rate of 0.12%," according to Trai's subscriber report for August 2022.
Monthly subscription growth rates in urban and rural areas were 0.10 and 0.14 percent, respectively.
Only Reliance Jio (32.81 lakh) and Bharti Airtel (3.26 lakh) gained new mobile customers in August, while debt-ridden private firm Vi lost the most.
According to the report, Vi lost 19.58 lakh mobile customers, BSNL lost 5.67 lakh, MTNL lost 470, and Reliance Communications lost 32 customers.
Broadband subscribers increased by 0.81 percent in August to 81.39 crore, up from 80.74 crore in July.
Top five service providers constituted 98.39 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers in August. Reliance Jio had 42.58 crore broadband subscribers, Bharti Airtel 22.39 crore, Vi 12.31 crore, BSNL 2.58 crore and Atria Convergence had 21.3 lakh broadband subscribers in August, according to the report. (with inputs from PTI)
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