Monday, May 27, 2019

Mobile and Internet Subscriber Counts Can Drop, as Well as Rise

It is not easy to explain why the number of mobile and fixed network subscribers in India has been falling over the past two year . There are major share shifts--Reliance Jio gaining, virtually every other supplier losing--but the issue is that total accounts are reported to be dropping.

There are some statistical issues. It is possible that many users now do not need to buy multiple SIM cards, as a result of lower tariffs driven by Reliance Jio. But promotional activity has subsided as well, and that likely means incremental, cost-sensitive users are not being added at the former rate.

Also, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India counts each SIM as a subscriber. At least a couple of the leading mobile providers count “accounts” differently.


There also might be a growing amount of mobile substitution, where mobile broadband displaces fixed broadband use. That seems to be happening elsewhere.



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