iWorld
Vodafone Idea loses 3.5 mn wireless subscribers in Oct’ 22: Trai
Mumbai: For the 16th consecutive month, Vodafone Idea continued to lose subscribers. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s monthly subscriber data, the telecom provider lost 3.5 million wireless subscribers. Meanwhile, Reliance Jio continued to strengthen its position and added more than 1.4 million wireless subscribers during the month. Bharti Airtel added 0.80 million during the same period.
The total number of wireless subscribers decreased from 1,145.45 million to 1,143.63 million in October. The number of wireless subscribers in urban areas decreased from 627.14 million to 625.18 million. However, wireless subscriptions in rural areas increased from 518.31 million to 518.45 million.
As per Trai data, there were 1016.81 active wireless subscribers during the month. Reliance Jio had the highest number of active wireless subscribers at 390.98 million, followed by Bharti Airtel at 358.03 million and Vodafone Idea at 211.72 million. BSNL had 55.47 million active wireless subscribers.
As per information received from 874 operators in August, Trai found that total broadband subscribers increased from 816.24 million to 821.49 million. The broadband subscribers comprised 789.10 million mobile device users, 31.35 million wired subscribers, and 1.04 million fixed wireless subscribers.
The top five broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 426.80 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (225.09 million), Vodafone Idea (123.20 million), BSNL (25.62 million), and Atria Convergence (2.13 million).
The top five wired broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 6.56 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (5.27 million), BSNL (3.91 million), Atria Convergence (2.14 million), and Hathway Cable & Datacom (1.13 million).
The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm (421.38 million), Bharti Airtel (222.85 million), Vodafone Idea (123.36 million), BSNL (22.10 million), and Intech Online (0.23 million).
The number of wireline subscribers increased from 26.47 million to 26.82 million in October.
The number of telephone subscribers in India decreased from 1,171.92 million to 1,170.45 million. Urban telephone subscriptions decreased from 651.61 million to 649.99 million. However, rural subscriptions also increased from 520.30 million to 520.46 million.
During October, a total of 11.81 million requests were received for mobile number portability (MNP).
iWorld
Schmooze launches AI matchmaker Riya to personalise dating
300,000 users try feature as retention doubles on Gen Z dating app.
MUMBAI: Love might be blind, but now it’s also algorithmically curated and apparently quite chatty. Schmooze has introduced an AI-powered personal matchmaker named Riya, marking its latest push to move beyond swipe-led dating into deeper, personality-driven matchmaking. Unlike traditional matching systems, Riya interacts directly with users through conversations asking about everything from lifestyle and humour to relationship goals and family values. The idea is simple but ambitious: understand users beyond surface-level preferences and recommend matches that actually fit.
The feature builds on a pattern Schmooze had already observed. Its earlier AI tool, People Finder, allowed users to describe their ideal partner in detail and users did exactly that. Requests ranged from “an extrovert who works in tech and likes to cook” to hyper-specific traits, signalling a clear shift towards intent-driven dating.
That insight exposed a gap. While dating apps typically rely on probability-based algorithms, many users already know what they want they just lack a system that can interpret it meaningfully.
Riya attempts to fill that gap using a conversational approach. Instead of rigid inputs, it gathers signals organically sometimes through casual questions about weekend plans or social habits while mapping deeper compatibility markers in the background.
To support this, Schmooze has built its own end-to-end voice AI stack and large language model, rather than relying on third-party systems. The move is aimed at keeping costs in check while handling scale, and ensuring tighter control over user data and privacy.
The early numbers suggest traction. More than 300,000 users have already interacted with Riya, with those users showing 2× higher retention compared to others on the platform. While the system is designed for short interactions, some users are spending up to 40–50 minutes in conversation occasionally even asking for date ideas, prompting the company to add personalised recommendations.
The launch is the latest step in Schmooze’s broader attempt to rethink dating for Gen Z. Founded by Vidya Madhavan and Abhinav Anurag, the platform initially stood out by using memes as a proxy for personality tracking over 3.5 billion meme swipes across its base of more than 5 million users.
In a market dominated by global players like Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, Schmooze’s approach signals a shift from visual-first discovery to interaction-led compatibility. And with AI now stepping in as a digital wingman, the dating game may be moving from swipe right to speak right.
