Vodafone-Idea: How much market share did the company lo...

Synopsis: Vodafone-Idea lost 8.66 percentage points of wireless market share between December 2020 and December 2025, while Airtel gained 7.88 points and Jio added 3.88 points, according to TRAI data. Despite the industry adding over 105 million subscribers, Vi failed to benefit, signalling a structural shift toward a Jio and Airtel duopoly.

India’s telecommunications market has witnessed a significant competitive realignment since 2020, significantly affecting market shares owned by its largest players. The last five years have seen an accumulation of trends in subscriber additions, network investment, and customer retention, which cumulatively have led to a realignment in market shares.

Data used: Reports released by TRAI on wireless subscriber numbers as of December 2020 and December 2025 clearly illustrate this transformation, particularly highlighting the steady erosion in Vodafone-Idea’s position and the strengthening dominance of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

What is interesting is that the shift happens during a time when the market opportunity represented by the overall telecom industry has grown significantly in absolute terms. What has happened here is that instead of improving proportionately along with the market opportunity represented by the overall telecom industry, Vi has weakened its market share, while Jio has strengthened its leadership and Airtel too. These figures are not arbitrary and speak to a fundamental change in the structure of the telecom market.

In December 2020, Vodafone Idea held a 24.64% share of India’s wireless market. However, by December 2025, its share declined to 15.98%, meaning there was a reduction of 8.66% in share within a period of 5 years. This is considered a sharp decline, especially in a highly competitive sector where every 1-2% makes a large difference.

In this period, Reliance Jio added to its share by 3.88%, with an increased share of 39.31% compared to 35.43%. Bharti Airtel’s market share has experienced a steep rise of 7.88% compared to 29.36%, reaching 37.24%. This steep rise means that Bharti Airtel managed to attract more subscribers from Vi to its side. In essence, there has been a steep rise in the combined market share of Jio and Airtel since 2020.

Subscriber Base Growth: Vi Missed the Industry Expansion

India’s total wireless subscriber base has increased over time, from 1,153.77 million in December 2020 to 1,258.77 million in December 2025, marking an increase of over 105 million subscribers in the market. This indicates the expansion of the market itself. However, this incremental growth was not picked up by Vodafone-Idea, and instead, these subscribers added up with Jio and Airtel.

The Airtel net addition from November 2025 was approximately 5.42 million subscribers in the month of December 2025, while Jio received 2.97 million subscribers in the same month. Vodafone-Idea lost around 0.94 million subscribers in the same month. The recurring pattern of losing net subscribers suggests not just stagnation but actually loss to competitors.

Active Subscriber Metrics: Quality Gap Widens

Aside from the number of subscribers, the active subscriber ratio offers detailed insights into the customers’ behaviour and the quality of service provision. According to the VLR data as of Dec 2025, the active subscriber ratios of both Airtel and Jio were above 98%.

The active ratio at Vodafone-Idea has also remained relatively lower at 85.3%. The lower the active base, the less the monetisation potential and the more the chances the company loses out to the competitors. The result is the same over the longer run, and the gap between the companies becomes visibly wide.

Industry Structure

There is a clear shift towards a duopoly; Jio and Airtel collectively held about 65% of the share in the wireless market as of December 2020. In contrast, by December 2025, Jio and Airtel collectively managed to grow their share to about 76.55%. This reflects an 11-point consolidation advantage for these two firms.

The slump of close to 9 percentage points by Vodafone-Idea reflects the change in market dynamics from a balanced market composition of three players to a market now ruled by two industry majors. The disproportionate industry growth trend post-2020 has been hugely favourable to Jio and Airtel at the expense of the market, which has somehow now moved towards a duopoly.

Vodafone Idea has lost 8.66 percentage points of wireless business since 2020, Airtel gained 7.88 percentage points, and Jio gained 3.88 percentage points. The overall subscriber base has gained over 105 million subscribers, but Vodafone Idea wasn’t part of this growth story. The statistics clearly indicate structural changes taking place in the Indian telecom industry, favouring Jio and Airtel.

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