Reliance Jio's slowing revenue points to more pain for Airtel, Vodafone

Mukesh Ambani's wireless venture unlikely to raise prices anytime soon

Reliance Jio recently pipped Bharti Airtel to become India's second-largest mobile phone operator by user number. © Reuters

July 22, 2019 20:33 JST

MUMBAI (NewsRise) -- Slowing revenue growth and subscriber addition at Reliance Jio Infocomm portend more pain for rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea as the Mukesh Ambani-backed carrier is unlikely to raise prices any time soon, prolonging the cut-throat competition in India's wireless market.

The unit of Reliance Industries, which recently pipped Bharti Airtel to become India's second-largest mobile phone operator by number of users, on Friday posted a surprise 3.2% sequential drop in monthly average revenue per user, or ARPU, to 122 rupees ($1.77).