Explained — The biggest factor why Vodafone Idea shares are up 5% on Friday

Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd rose over 5.5% on Friday, March 20, after the latest telecom subscriber data showed a sharp moderation in user losses, signalling early signs of stabilisation in its subscriber base.

Data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for January 2026 showed that Vodafone Idea lost 4.11 lakh subscribers during the month — its lowest monthly decline in at least two years.

Vodafone Idea's subscriber losses in January mark a significant improvement from the sustained monthly losses of about 1–2 million subscribers seen through most of 2024 and 2025.

While the company continues to lose users, the data shows that the pace of decline has steadily eased in recent months.

For instance, losses narrowed from around 1.7 million per month in early 2024 to under 1 million towards the end of 2025, before dropping sharply to just 0.41 million in January 2026.

Also read: Adjusted gross revenue relief buys Vodafone Idea time, but challenges remain: Centrum’s Pandey

Subscriber trends also reflect this shift. Vodafone Idea’s base declined consistently from 216 million in January 2024 to about 199 million by December 2025.

India’s overall telecom subscriber growth slowed in January, with net mobile additions easing to 67 lakh from 72.4 lakh in December, according to TRAI data. The total wireless subscriber base rose 0.6% month-on-month to 126.63 crore, while mobile number portability requests remained high at 1.6 crore.

Among other telecom companies, Bharti Airtel led gains with 44 lakh new users, followed by Reliance Jio at 24.4 lakh, while BSNL added 2.71 lakh subscribers.

For the December quarter, the telecom operator reported a net loss of ₹5,286 crore, compared with ₹5,524 crore loss in Q2FY26. Revenue increased 1.1% quarter-on-quarter to ₹11,323 crore, and EBITDA rose 2.8% sequentially to ₹4,817 crore. EBITDA margin expanded to 42.5% from 41.8% in the previous quarter.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) improved 7.3% year-on-year to ₹186 from ₹173 in the corresponding quarter last year, owing to customer upgrades.

Shares of the company gained about 5.5% on Friday and were trading at ₹9.43 as of 1.57 pm, still 26% below their 52-week high of ₹12.80. The stock has declined 18.71% in 2026, while delivering nearly 30% returns over the last 12 months.