iWorld
Reliance Jio added 6.5 million mobile subscribers in July: Trai
Mumbai: Reliance Jio added 6.5 million mobile subscribers in July, according to the latest data shared by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Airtel added 1.9 million mobile subscribers and Vodafone Idea lost 1.4 million subscribers, the telecom regulator said.
BSNL lost 1.01 million subscribers as well. MTNL and Reliance Communication lost a few thousand subscribers. Net mobile subscribers grew by 6 million.
Total wireless subscribers grew from 1180.83 million to 1186.84 million at a monthly growth rate of 0.51 per cent. Wireless subscriptions in urban areas increased from 646.29 million to 650.10 million. In rural areas, it increased from 534.54 million to 536.74 million.
Out of total wireless subscribers, 989.34 were active mobile subscribers. Reliance Jio had 346.49 million active subscribers, Bharti Airtel had 346.07 and Vodafone Idea had 238.39.
Total telephone subscribers increased from 1202.57 million to 1209.45 million at the end of July. Urban telephone subscriptions increased from 666.10 million to 670.75 million. Rural subscriptions increased from 536.47 million to 538.70 million.
As per information received by 455 operators in July 2021 in comparison to 440 operators in June 2021, total broadband subscribers increased from 792.78 million to 808.68 million at a monthly growth rate of 2 per cent. Wired subscribers increased from 23.52 million to 24.01 million, mobile device users increased from 768.61 million to 783.39 million and fixed wireless subscribers increased from 0.65 million to 1.19 million.
The top five service providers constituted 98.77 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of July. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (446.69 million), Bharti Airtel (201.77 million), Vodafone Idea (123.97 million), BSNL (24.26 million), and Atria Convergence (1.93 million).
The top five wired broadband service providers were BSNL (5.83 million), Bharti Airtel (3.54 million), Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (3.47 million), Atria Convergence Technologies (1.93 million), and Hathway Cable & Datacom (1.07 million).
The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm (443.61 million), Bharti Airtel (198.23 million), Vodafone Idea (123.97 million), BSNL (17.89 million), and Tikona Infinet Ltd (0.31 million).
Wireline subscribers increased from 21.74 million to 22.61 million with a monthly growth rate of 4.04 per cent. The share of urban and rural subscribers stood at 91.32 per cent and 8.68 per cent. BSNL and MTNL held 47.93 per cent of the wireline market. Net wireline subscribers increased by 8.7 million. BSNL added 5.06 million, Reliance Jio added 0.25 million and Bharti Airtel added 0.12 million subscribers, respectively.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
