Airtel, Jio vie for top spot in Bengal, Vi loses subscribers
Times of India | 12 December 2025
Kolkata: The race for the top spot for telecommunications in Bengal is heating up between Bharti Airtel and Jio over the past few months, while Vi emerged as net loser, according to the data from Trai.
The same is true at the national level, where Jio and Airtel are also giving each other a tough fight in terms of net addition of subscribers and average revenue per user (ARPU), while Vi remained a distinct third.
In Sept, Bharti Airtel added 72,700 subscribers in Bengal, while Jio added 1.7 lakh, and Vi lost 1.2 lakh subscribers.
In Oct, Jio and Airtel were almost head-to-head, with a net addition of 72,686 for Airtel and 73,782 for Jio, while Vi bled 2.5 lakh subscribers. BSNL saw limited gain in Oct with 7,492 additions.
At the national level, ARPU in the second quarter saw Airtel take the lead with Rs 256, followed by Rs 211 for Jio, with Vi at Rs 167, much below the two frontrunners.
According to Trai's Oct 25 subscriber report, Bharti topped the industry in mobile net additions. In mobile subscriber addition, Bharti outpaced Jio on Oct 25.
Vi's 2.1 million losses were the worst in recent months. In fixed broadband subscriber additions, Jio remained steady, while Bharti saw a slowdown.