Jio's aggressive network rollout has also forced consolidation in the sector, and expect incumbents to benefit from consolidation at the tail end. Smaller operators have not made meaningful investments in 3G/4G rollouts, and largely compete in the voice market.
Jio reported 72 mn subscribers for its Prime program as of March 2017. However, subscriber additions for incumbents have continued to stay robust. Recent data from TRAI seems to suggest there is no uptick in customers opting for Mobile Number Portability, indicating most of these customers of Jio have still not let go of their prior service providers. During the 4Q call, Bharti Airtel mentioned it has been able to ?entice? some of these customers back to their network with targeted offers. Idea also mentioned it has started seeing early signs of some 4G customers returning. Analysts expect Jio to have 60mn subscribers by March 2018.
