Active mobile subscribers fall in April after five mths, 7.5 mn users lost

Airtel and Vodafone Idea down by 3.1 mn and 3.8 mn users respectively; Jio's base remains flat

The number of active mobile phone users declined by 7.5 million in April on a month on month basis, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India data.

The fall in active subscribers was the first after four consecutive months of growth, Emkay Research said in its report on Friday. The fall in active subscribers was due to contraction in Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s base by 3.1 million and 3.8 million respectively while Reliance Jio’s active subscriber number remained flat in April.

Total active subscribers stood at over 1.01 billion at the end of April.

Analysts at Jefferies said