Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st January 2026

Posted On: 19 MAR 2026 7:23PM by PIB Delhi Particulars Wireless* Wireline Total (Wireless+ Wireline) Broadband Subscribers (Million) 1006.89 45.83 1052.72 Urban Telephone Subscribers (Million) 725.67 42.59 768.26 Net Addition in January 2026 (Million) 4.59 0.30 4.89 Monthly Growth Rate 0.64% 0.72% 0.64% Rural Telephone Subscribers (Million) 540.67 5.07 545.74 Net Addition in January 2026 (Million) 2.98 -0.01 2.97 Monthly Growth Rate 0.55% -0.24% 0.55% Total Telephone Subscribers (Million) 1266.34 47.66 1314.00 Net Addition in January 2026 (Million) 7.57 0.29 7.86 Monthly Growth Rate 0.60% 0.61% 0.60% Share of Urban Subscribers 57.30% 89.36% 58.47% Share of Rural Subscribers 42.70% 10.64% 41.53% Overall Tele-density @ with M2M cellular mobile connections 88.87% 3.34% 92.22% Urban Tele-density @ 141.53% 8.31% 149.84% Rural Tele-density @ 59.27% 0.56% 59.83% Tele-density @ without M2M cellular mobile connections 80.91% 3.34% 84.26% In the month of January 2026, 15.98 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The number of active wireless (mobile) subscribers (on the date of peak VLR # ) in January 2026 was 1172.10 million. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Note: * The wireless subscriber base comprises of wireless mobile telephone subscribers (including M2M cellular mobile connections), and FWA subscribers. @ Tele-density has been computed on the basis of the projection of population from the ‘Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011 &ndash; 2036’, published in July 2020. # VLR is acronym of Visitor Location Register. The dates of peak VLR for various Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) may be different in different service areas. Information in this Press Release is based on the data provided by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to TRAI. Broadband Subscribers As per the information received from 1480 operators for the month of January 2026, the total number of broadband subscribers increased from 1050.60 million at the end of December 2025 to 1052.72 million at the end of January 2026 with a monthly growth rate of 0.20%. Segment-wise number of broadband subscribers and their monthly growth rates are as below: - Segment&ndash;wise Broadband Subscribers and Monthly Growth Rate in the month of January 2026 Segment Subscription Broadband Subscribers (in million) Percentage Change December 2025 January 2026 Wired subscribers Fixed Wired Access (DSL, FTTx, Ethernet/LAN, Cable Modem, ILL) 45.45 45.83 0.83% Wireless Subscribers Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Radio/UBR, Satellite) 15.08 15.95 5.77% Mobile Wireless Access (Handset/Dongle-based-3G, 4G, 5G, M2M) 990.07 990.95 0.09% Total Broadband Subscriptions 1050.60 1052.72 0.20% Top five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service providers as on 31 st January 2026 S.N. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 517.56 Bharti Airtel Ltd. 359.29 Vodafone Idea Ltd. 128.97 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 29.64 Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.38 Market Share of Top Five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service Providers 98.59% The graphical representation of the service provider-wise market share of broadband services is given below: - Service Provider-wise Market Share of Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Services as on 31 st January 2026 Top Five Fixed Wired Access Broadband Service providers as on 31 st January 2026 S.N. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 13.99 Bharti Airtel Ltd. 10.38 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd 4.47 Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.38 Kerala Vision Broadband Ltd. 1.46 Market Share of Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service Providers 71.30% Top five Wireless (Fixed wireless & mobile) Access Broadband Service providers as on 31 st January 2026 S.N. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 503.57 Bharti Airtel Ltd. 348.91 Vodafone Idea Ltd. 128.97 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 25.17 IBus Virtual Network Services Private Limited 0.12 Market Share of Top Five Wireless (Fixed wireless & Mobile) Access Broadband Service providers 99.98% Wireline Telephone Subscriber Base The number of wireline subscribers increased from 47.37 million at the end of December 2025 to 47.66 million at the end of January 2026. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.29 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.61%. The overall wireline tele-density in India increased from 3.33% at the end of December 2025 to 3.34% at the of January 2026. Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 8.31% and 0.56% respectively, on 31 st January 2026. The shares of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 89.36% and 10.64% respectively, at the end of January 2026. PSU access service providers viz. BSNL, MTNL, and APSFL together held 19.40% of the wireline market share as on 31 st January 2026. Detailed statistics of the wireline subscriber base are available at Annexure-I . Access Service Provider-wise Market Share of wireline Subscribers as on 31 st January 2026 The net addition/ decline in the wireline subscriber base of various access service providers in the month of January 2026 is given below: Access Service Provider-wise Net Addition/Decline in Wireline Subscribers during the month of January 2026 Wireless Telephone (Mobile + FWA) Subscriber Base The number of wireless (mobile + Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased from 1258.77 million at the end of December 2025 to 1266.34 million at the end of January 2026, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.60%. Total wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 720.15 million on 31 st December 2025 to 725.67 million on 31 st January 2026. The subscription in rural areas also increased from 538.62 million to 540.67 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions was 0.77% and 0.38%, respectively. The wireless tele-density in India increased from 88.41% at the end of December 2025 to 88.87% at the end of January 2026. The urban wireless tele-density increased from 140.66% at the end of December 2025 to 141.53% at the end of January 2026. The rural wireless tele-density increased from 59.07% to 59.27% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in the total number of wireless subscribers was 57.30% and 42.70%, respectively, at the end of January 2026. Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered. The details of wireless (mobile) subscribers and wireless (FWA) subscribers are given below: (A) Wireless (mobile) subscriber Base The number of wireless (mobile) subscribers increased from 1244.20 million at the end of December 2025 to 1250.89 million at the end of January 2026 thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.54%. Wireless (mobile) subscription in urban areas increased from 712.03 million at the end of December 2025 to 717.06 million at the end of January 2026 and wireless (mobile) subscription in rural areas also increased from 532.17 million to 533.83 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscription were 0.71% and 0.31% respectively. The wireless (mobile) tele-density in India increased from 87.38% at the end of December 2025 to 87.79% at the end of January 2026. The urban wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 139.08% at the end of December 2025 to 139.86% at the end of January 2026 and rural wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 58.36% to 58.52% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscribers in the total number of wireless (mobile) subscribers were 57.32% and 42.68% respectively, at the end of January 2026. The detailed statistics of wireless (mobile) subscriber base is available at Annexure-II . Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered. &bull; As on 31 st January 2026, the private access service providers held 92.54% of the market share in terms of wireless (mobile) subscribers, whereas PSU access service providers viz. BSNL and MTNL together held a market share of 7.46%. The graphical representation of access service provider-wise market share and net additions in wireless (mobile) subscriber base are given below: - Access Service Provider-wise Market Shares in term of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers as on 31 st January 2026 Net Addition/ Decline in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers of Access Service Providers in the month of January 2026 <span style="font-family: