Mukesh Ambani's Jio lags behind Airtel which is the top telecom brand in India

• Bharti Airtel’s brand value stood at $7.7 billion, the highest among any other telecom company in India.
• VI, previously known as Vodafone Idea, was a distant third as its brand value was under a billion dollars.
• Bharti Airtel’s presence across 16 countries have given it a competitive edge over Reliance Jio in terms of subscriber base and financials.

Despite being the biggest telecom service provider in the country, Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Jio has not been able to surpass Airtel in brand value.

According to a Brand Finance report, Bharti Airtel’s brand value stood at $7.7 billion — the highest among any other telecom company in India. It also increased by 28% during the year. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio stood at second position with brand value of $5.1 billion, and also gained 5% this year.

VI, previously known as Vodafone Idea, was a distant third as its brand value was under a billion dollars. It stood at $767 million as it faces numerous business challenges due to its debt, along with other troubles like the AGR issue.

Infosys overtakes LIC and the second most valuable brand

Infosys with its $12.8 billion brand value has also managed to overtake Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) ($11.1 billion brand value) to become the second most valuable Indian brand this year.

“Infosys has shown impressive growth this year, making it the fastest-growing IT services brand globally of 2022, thanks to its commitment to clients and focus on innovation,” the report said. The development comes even as LIC spent a lot of time, money and efforts on marketing in 2021 for its initial public offering.

Tata Group remains India’s most valuable brand, with a value of $24 billion.

Airtel knows how to make money off subscribers

Airtel surpassing Reliance Jio in terms of brand value comes as a surprise, given that Reliance Jio is the biggest wireless service provider in India with a market share of over 35%. According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Airtel’s share is slightly lower at 31.56%.

However, the point of difference for the two companies is simple — Airtel has not limited itself to the Indian market. While Jio focuses on growing in India, Bharti Airtel has spread its presence in 16 countries across South Asia and Africa. This has not only increased the company’s brand value but also its ability to make money.

READ MORE: Reliance Jio vs Bharti Airtel — four charts that showcase how the Indian telecom giants faired in 2022

Reliance Jio has higher subscriber base, but only in India

Bharti Airtel does fall short of Jio in the Indian market in terms of number of subscribers, but its global presence catapults it past its competitors. Airtel had 360 million subscribers in India in March 2022, but overall it has 491 million subscribers across the 16 countries it is present in.

Simultaneously, Reliance Jio was at second position with 410 million subscribers, all of them coming from India.

All these factors also contributed to Airtel’s supremacy in revenues too. Airtel closed the fiscal year 2022 with a revenue of ₹117,081 crore, while it turned its ₹12,364 crore loss into a profit of ₹8,305 crore.

Jio, on the other hand, reported a revenue of ₹95,804 crore, with a profit of ₹15,487 crore.

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