MUMBAI: Telecom industry has lost 82 lakh subscribers during the complete lockdown in April, and COVID-19 pandemic will continue to keep customer additions under pressure, according to a report.
The decline in subscriber base during April was preceded by a loss of 28 lakh connections in March, which saw the lockdown being imposed towards the end, India Ratings and Research said in note.
The biggest losers were Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, it said, adding sector leader Reliance Jio witnessed a growth in its base.
“The industry-wide subscriber base declined month-on-month by 2.8 million and 8.2 million in March and April 2020, respectively. The decline was attributable to a reduction in the subscriber base of Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) and Bharti Airtel Limited, which has more than offset the growth in the subscriber base of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited.
“The impact is due to the lockdown imposed after the outbreak of COVID-19 towards end-March 2020 and continued for the full month of April 2020. The addition in the subscriber base would remain under pressure in the coming months due to COVID-19,” it said.
The lockdown had a chilling effect on all the economic activities, leading to severe impact seen across sectors in the economy, where the GDP is set to contract by over 5 per cent in FY21 according to analysts.
