Vodafone Idea lost 7.4 million users while Bharti Airtel lost 1.9 million users in October, data showedTelecom stocks such as Vodafone Idea lost ground on Thursday after industry regulator released monthly data that showed a bleak rise in country's mobile phone customer base.The country's mobile phone customer base rose 0.06 per cent, or a net 0.72 million, to 1.17 billion in October, data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed on Wednesday.Vodafone Idea, country's largest telecom operator by subscribers, lost 7.4 million users, while Bharti Airtel, No.
2 telecom firm, lost 1.9 million subscribers during month.Reliance Jio Infocomm added 10.5 million subscribers to its network, making it third biggest in country.Jio's entry in market had led to widespread disruption in domestic telecom industry, sparking a price war, stiffening competition and triggering consolidation among bigger players."The top three operators have benefited from ongoing consolidation within smaller operators in past," brokerage Morgan Stanley wrote in a note."Most smaller operators are now left with no subscribers, so it will be interesting to see market share shifts within top players, particularly when Jio continues with an aggressive subscriber acquisition strategy compared to Airtel and Vodafone Idea, which are looking to optimize their low-end customer base," Morgan Stanley said.Vodafone Idea shares hit their lowest in three weeks, dropping as much as 5.2 per cent, while shares in Bharti Airtel fell 1.5 per cent.Shares in Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, which has a total of 3.5 million users, fell up to 6.7 percent.