Convener News Desk
New Delhi, Dec 11: A new analysis has found that more than one-fifth of Vodafone Idea’s (Vi) reported subscriber base is inactive, raising fresh questions about the telecom operator’s actual user strength and the quality of its revenue metrics.
Although Vi officially reports 197.2 million subscribers, the study indicates that only 154.7 million of them are active, meaning nearly 43 million SIMs are not generating meaningful usage.
The report highlights that Vi’s revenue performance looks notably different when assessed through the lens of active users. While the company’s declared Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) stands at ₹167, the figure increases sharply to ₹209 when calculated solely on active subscribers. This brings Vi’s ARPU closer to rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, but also exposes how a large pool of inactive users may be masking deeper structural weaknesses.
The study further shows that Vi continues to lag behind competitors on user engagement parameters. Its average monthly voice usage stands at 585 minutes, nearly 30% lower than the levels recorded by peers among active users.
Similarly, data consumption averages 24GB per user per month, trailing Airtel’s 27.6GB and marginally below Jio’s 24.6GB. Analysts say these gaps in usage intensity directly contribute to Vi’s slower revenue momentum despite ongoing investments in network modernization.
Although Vodafone Idea has recently succeeded in slowing down its subscriber churn, experts caution that stabilizing the headline user base is only the first step. The findings underscore that meaningful recovery will depend on strengthening engagement among active subscribers, improving data consumption levels, and ensuring that reported numbers better reflect real revenue-generating users.
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