Jio’s edge over Bharti’s active & new subscriber additions will boost telecom tariff outlook: Jefferies
New Delhi [India], May 30 (ANI): Reliance Jio added the highest number of mobile users in April 2025, beating Bharti Airtel in both active and reported subscriber additions, according to a report by Jefferies.
The report said Jio’s strong performance is a positive sign for the telecom sector’s overall tariff outlook.
“Jio again outperformed Bharti on both active and reported subscriber base additions — which augurs well for the sector’s overall tariff outlook,” it said.
In April, Jio added 5.6 million active subscribers, while Bharti Airtel lost 4.1 million. Overall, the sector’s active user base shrank by 1.5 million month-on-month after a strong first quarter in calendar year 2025.
For the sector the report stated that “The sector’s reported subscriber base was up by 1.9m in Apr-25. Reported subscriber base has now increased for 5 straight months with a cumulative increase of 10.3m”.
Jefferies noted that Jio’s continued outperformance compared to Bharti could support future tariff hikes.
Vodafone Idea (VIL) continued to lose subscribers in April. Jefferies said the fall in VIL’s subscriber base may help Jio and Bharti gain more market share in the future.
The sector’s reported subscriber base, which includes all users, not just active ones rose by 1.9 million in April. This marked the fifth straight month of growth, with a total increase of 10.3 million during the period.
Jio added 2.6 million reported subscribers, while Bharti added 0.2 million. VIL lost 0.6 million subscribers.
Excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, Jio added 2.1 million users, while Bharti lost 2.3 million. Subscriber gains were seen across all circles except Metros.
A-Circles led with a 0.9 million increase, followed by C-Circles (0.7 million) and B-Circles (0.4 million). Metros saw a slight decline of 0.1 million.
Both urban and rural areas added subscribers, with rural regions seeing a rise of 1.7 million and urban areas gaining 0.3 million in April.
