iWorld
Vodafone Idea lost 4 mn wireless subscribers in September 2022: Trai
Mumbai: As per subscription data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Reliance Jio added 0.72 million wireless subscribers at the end of September 2022. Bharti Airtel added 0.41 million subscribers during the same period. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, lost 4 million wireless subscribers.
The total number of wireless subscribers decreased to 1,145.45 million at the end of September 2022, in comparison to 1,149.11 million at the end of August 2022.
The number of wireless subscribers in urban areas increased from 627.09 million to 627.14 million for the same period, while in rural areas it decreased from 522.02 million to 518.31 million.
In September 2022, as per Trai data, there were 1,013.97 million active wireless subscribers. Reliance Jio had the highest number of active wireless subscribers at 386.08 million during the period, followed by Bharti Airtel at 358.99 million and Vodafone Idea at 212.19 million. From public-sector units, BSNL had 56.23 million active wireless subscribers.
As per information received from 846 operators in September 2022, Trai found that total broadband subscribers increased from 813.94 million to 816.24 million. In September 2022, the broadband subscribers comprised 783.99 million mobile device users, 31.09 million wired subscribers, and 1.15 million fixed wireless subscribers.
The top five service providers constituted 98.36 per cent of the total broadband subscribers at the end of September 2022. These 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 (2.14 million).
The top wired broadband service providers included are Reliance Jio Infocomm with 6.83 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).
Reliance Jio Infocomm, with 419.97 million subscribers, is followed by Bharti Airtel (219.82 million), Vodafone Idea (123.20 million), BSNL (21.71 million), and Intech Online (0.23 million) in the list of the top five wireless broadband service providers.
The number of wireline subscribers increased from 25.97 million in September 2022 compared to 26.47 million in August 2022.
The number of telephone subscribers decreased from 1,175.08 million to 1,171.92 million during the same period.
Both urban and rural telephone subscribers recorded increases in numbers from 651.07 million to 651.61 million and 524.01 million to 520.30 million, respectively, at the end of September 2022.
Also, during the same period, a total of 11.97 million requests were received for mobile number portability (MNP).
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.
