The telecom industry witnessed a significant surge in Visitor Location Register (VLR) base subscribers, with a notable increase of 2.7 million in January 2024, compared to 1.9 million in December 2023, as reported by Emkay. This upswing was primarily driven by a substantial increase in the subscriber base, which grew by 2.2 million, according to the report.
Visitor Location Register (VLR) is a temporary database that saves temporary info about a mobile user, like where the user is currently located, whether their phone is on or off, and other details. It works with 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G. It’s essential to make sure the mobile phone stays connected and works efficiently.
Airtel added more monthly users in the Jan-24 as compared to Jio at 3.6 million and 1.1 million month-over-month (MoM), respectively, whereas Vodafone’s VLR subscribers were reported to be down by 1.7 million.
In terms of overall subscriber additions, Jio maintained its lead for the 22nd consecutive month, reporting a robust increase of 4.2 million MoM in Jan-24. Airtel, although trailing behind, still managed to add 0.8 million subscribers. However, Vodafone experienced a decline, losing 1.5 million subscribers MoM.
The telecom company also “dominated the wireless broadband subscriber addition, with an increase of 4.2 million; Bharti followed, logging a 2.4 million rise MoM,” added the report. Vodafone’s wireless broadband saw a downward slope in its subscriber count by 0.5 million. The launch of JioBharat was also said to be a reason for the gain in subscriber count.
The report also mentions Jio as the leading telecom company in both wireline and wireless broadband subscriber base, with 0.25 million and 4.2 million monthly growth in subscriber base, respectively. Airtel was just slightly behind, with 0.11 million and 2.4 million broadband subscribers, respectively. However, Vodafone’s wireless broadband user count was down by 0.5 million.
While talking about the Urban-Rural mix, the report states that Jio is in the lead with the addition of 1.9 million rural subscribers, partly due to Jio’s strategy to convert 2G users to 4G through the JioBharat phone. Airtel came second, with 0.9 million new subscribers.