India’s Telecom Base Rises to 1.22 Billion; Broadband Subscribers Near 990 Million

New Delhi, October 7: India’s total telephone subscriber base rose to 1,224.54 million in August 2025, up from 1,220.02 million in July, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.37%, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The country now has 1,178.03 million wireless and 46.51 million wireline subscribers. Wireless users grew by 6.12 million, offsetting a decline of 1.61 million in wireline connections. Overall tele-density increased to 86.40%, with urban tele-density at 134.51% and rural at 59.31%.

Broadband Users Near 1 Billion

India’s broadband subscriber base increased to 989.58 million in August from 984.69 million in July, reflecting 0.50% monthly growth.

• Fixed (wired) broadband users declined by 3.13% to 44.07 million,
• Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) users surged nearly 30% to 11.40 million, driven largely by 5G adoption,
• Mobile broadband users grew modestly by 0.40% to 934.11 million.

Reliance Jio continued to lead the broadband market with 501.31 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel (309.22 million), Vodafone Idea (127.48 million), BSNL (34.31 million), and Atria Convergence Technologies (2.35 million). Together, the top five operators accounted for 98.5% of all broadband users.

Wireless and Fixed Trends

Wireless subscriptions grew by 0.52% during the month, reaching 1,178.03 million, with urban and rural segments recording growth of 0.66% and 0.36% respectively. Active wireless users (on the Visitor Location Register, or VLR) stood at 1,086.18 million, representing 93.07% of total wireless connections.

Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea continued to dominate the mobile space, while public-sector units BSNL and MTNL together held 7.89% of the wireless market.

The wireline segment, however, continued its decline, shrinking by 3.34% in August to 46.51 million. PSU service providers BSNL, MTNL, and APSFL together held 20.53% of the wireline market.

5G and FWA Uptick

The number of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) users increased from 8.40 million in July to 8.90 million in August, a growth of 5.96%. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio together serve the entire FWA market. Additionally, Reliance Jio reported 2.1 million users for its new UBR (unlicensed band radio) FWA service, marking the first month of such reporting.

MNP Requests Cross 15 Million

In August, 15.05 million subscribers submitted requests for mobile number portability (MNP), slightly down from 15.41 million in July. Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar recorded the highest MNP requests.

Delhi maintained the highest tele-density at 277.54%, while Bihar recorded the lowest at 57.67%.

TRAI said the data is based on operator submissions and population projections from the National Statistical Office’s Technical Group on Population Projections (2011–2036).