Is Reliance Jio Running Out of Steam with 5G on the Horizon?

Reliance Jio has underperformed in January 2021, as per latest data released by TRAI. The telco remained the largest in terms of total subscribers. However, it managed to gain only around 1.96 million subscribers. It is no slouch, yet Airtel has gained the most users for 6 months on the bounce.

Reliance Jio in January 2021

The Mukesh Ambani-led telco gained 1.96 million new subscribers to its user base, which translates to roughly 0.48% growth, This is the slowest growth matrix among the top three telcos. Unsurprisingly, Airtel topped this chart with more than 5.89 million subscribers added, registering a total growth of 1.74%. Surprisingly, though, Vodafone Idea also edged out the largest telco in terms of percentage growth, with the former growing by 0.6%.

Reliance Jio is still the market leader, however. The 410 million subscribers and more than a third of the market share speak for themselves. However, there is still the issue of inactive users. The largest telco only has around 79.01% active users - in comparison, Airtel and Vi have 97% and 89% active users. There can be many reasons for the gap here. Firstly and most importantly, due to Jio's lucrative offers, especially their onboarding offers, many people just buy their SIM once and then don't use it much. This is mere speculation but the trend seems to suggest this.

Interestingly, Reliance Jio has lost subscribers in Punjab as they have gained in all others. However, these losses are only about 3.8% of the total gains in the same time.

Is Writing on the Wall for Reliance Jio?

Reliance Jio has been highly busy in the first quarter of 2021. Rumors about the JioBook are still all the talk in the consumer electronics segment, while very lucrative JioPhone offers are out there as well. The telco continues to focus on its non-telecom and apps ecosystem.

It is still quite far away from being a proper writing on the wall kind of situation, yet it is not far from there. Reliance Jio does not have the leeway to just sit back. It is losing momentum in the same time Airtel and Vi are gaining traction. With 5G on the horizon, this is not the time when it should be slowing down.