Kolkata loses 2.67 lakh mobile users in June 2024, highest in the country: TRAI

According to the TRAI report, in May 2024, Kolkata circle had about 2.35 crore subscribers, and the number dropped to 2.32 crore in June.

However, 6,695 new customers have joined the West Bengal circle during the period under review.

Out of the total 22 telecom circles across the country, the number of subscribers has reduced in only six circles.

The Kerala circle was next to Kolkata in terms of losing mobile consumers as the circle lost 1.81 lakh subscribers in June 2024.

The number of mobile subscribers also declined in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (West) circles, but not more than 1 lakh.

According to the telecom authority, the main reason for the decline in mobile subscribers in Kolkata is that nearly 2 lakh subscribers left the state-owned telecom service provider BSNL in June.

However, Bharti Airtel's subscriber base remains largely unchanged, while two other telecom giants, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio, saw a drop of 20,000 and 44,000 subscribers, respectively, in June 2024.

According to experts, BSNL's late rollout of 4G and complaints about services have angered many consumers, and for this reason, customers are seen disconnecting their connection regularly. Though, the number is much higher in Kolkata in June.

However, a TRAI official, who did not wish to be named, claimed that the increase in mobile tariffs would have reduced the number of customers across the country, not only in Kolkata.

"So, more detailed information is needed to understand why the number of customers in Kolkata is decreasing so much," the official added.

According to some experts, many people use more than one phone or SIM card, and now many customers have turned off extra connections to cut costs. Also every telecom company deletes some unused connections at certain intervals. This is also one of the reasons for the drop in active mobile users.