Vodafone Idea added 506k mobile users in August for a 7th straight gain, though growth still trailed Jio and Airtel, per TRAI data.

Its base reached 199.57 million by the end of the month, up from 199.06 million in July.

Its pace was the slowest of the four big operators, though. Its monthly rate of 0.25% was the lowest, while BSNL grew fastest at 0.53%, followed by Jio at 0.47% and Airtel at 0.43%.

Jio added the most users, about 2.40 million, taking its base to 508.43 million. Airtel added 2.11 million and ended at 491.60 million. BSNL gained about 493,000, while MTNL lost about 5,900.

That leaves Vodafone Idea with 15.43% of the mobile market. Jio holds 39.31%, Airtel 38.01% and BSNL 7.24%.

The gains were not even across the country. Vodafone Idea grew in Gujarat, where its base rose to 20.32 million from 20.12 million, and in Delhi, where it reached 16.74 million from 16.54 million.

It lost users in six areas: Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, the North East, Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh (West) fell by about 94,000, while Maharashtra and the North East saw only marginal drops.

The bigger gap shows up in active users. TRAI checks how many subscribers were active on the month’s peak day.

For Vodafone Idea, 167.32 million of its 199.57 million users were active, or 83.84%. Airtel stood at 99.01%, Jio at 98.80% and BSNL at 54.37%. The industry average was 93.36%.

Vodafone Idea is the third-largest broadband provider, with 130.88 million users behind Jio at 538.03 million and Airtel at 386.39 million.

It also had 22.57 million M2M connections, which are machine-to-machine links, a 16.06% share in a segment where Airtel led with 86.06 million.

Overall, the wireless base, which includes fixed wireless access, rose 0.46% to 1,312.25 million. Private operators hold 92.75% of the mobile market.

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