Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data at the end of April 2026

Posted On: 26 MAY 2026 8:12PM by PIB Delhi Particulars Wireless* Wireline Total (Wireless+ Wireline) Broadband Subscribers (Million) 1026.60 46.84 1073.44 Urban Telephone Subscribers (Million) 739.78 43.34 783.12 Net Addition in April 2026 (Million) 4.05 0.29 4.33 Monthly Growth Rate 0.55% 0.67% 0.56% Rural Telephone Subscribers (Million) 549.18 5.23 554.41 Net Addition in April 2026 (Million) 2.58 0.04 2.62 Monthly Growth Rate 0.47% 0.76% 0.47% Total Telephone Subscribers (Million) 1288.96 48.58 1337.54 Net Addition in April 2026 (Million) 6.63 0.33 6.95 Monthly Growth Rate 0.52% 0.68% 0.52% Share of Urban Subscribers 57.39% 89.23% 58.55% Share of Rural Subscribers 42.61% 10.77% 41.45% Overall Tele-density @ with M2M cellular mobile connections 90.28% 3.40% 93.69% Urban Tele-density @ 143.69% 8.42% 152.11% Rural Tele-density @ 60.16% 0.57% 60.74% Tele-density @ without M2M cellular mobile connections 81.36% 3.40% 84.76% In the month of April 2026, 14.74 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The number of active wireless (mobile) subscribers (on the date of peak VLR # ) in April 2026 was 1193.57 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 – 2036’, published in July 2020. # VLR is an 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 1538 operators for the month of April 2026, the total number of broadband subscribers increased from 1065.88 million at the end of March 2026 to 1073.44 million at the end of April 2026 with a monthly growth rate of 0.71%. Segment-wise number of broadband subscribers and their monthly growth rates are as below: - Segment –wise Broadband Subscribers and Monthly Growth Rate in the month of April 2026 Segment Subscription Broadband Subscribers (in million) Percentage Change March 2026 April 2026 Wired subscribers Fixed Wired Access (DSL, FTTx, Ethernet/LAN, Cable Modem, ILL) 46.51 46.84 0.71% Wireless Subscribers Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Radio/UBR, Satellite) 17.10 17.54 2.53% Mobile Wireless Access (Handset/Dongle/M2M-based-3G, 4G, 5G) 1002.27 1009.06 0.68% Total Broadband Subscriptions 1065.88 1073.44 0.71% Top five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service providers at the end of April 2026 S.N. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 526.94 Bharti Airtel Ltd. 373.00 Vodafone Idea Ltd. 128.92 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 27.20 Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.42 Market Share of Top Five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service Providers 98.61% 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 at the end of April 2026 Top Five Fixed Wired Access Broadband Service providers at the end of April 2026 S.N. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 14.35 Bharti Airtel Ltd. 10.86 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 4.51 Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.42 Kerala Vision Broadband Ltd. 1.50 Market Share of Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service Providers 71.81% Top five Wireless (Fixed wireless & mobile) Access Broadband Service providers at the end of April 2026 S.N. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 512.58 Bharti Airtel Ltd. 362.14 Vodafone Idea Ltd. 128.91 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 22.69 IBus Virtual Network Services Private Limited 0.12 Market Share of Top Five Wireless (Fixed wireless & Mobile) Access Broadband Service providers 99.99% Wireline Telephone Subscriber Base The number of wireline subscribers increased from 48.25 million at the end of March 2026 to 48.58 million at the end of April 2026. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.33 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.68%. The overall wireline tele-density in India increased from 3.38% at the end of March 2026 to 3.40% at the of April 2026. Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 8.42% and 0.57% respectively, at the end of April 2026. The respective share of urban subscribers, and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 89.23% and 10.77% respectively at the end of April 2026. PSU access service providers viz. BSNL, MTNL, and APSFL together held 18.56% of the wireline market share at the end of April 2026. Detailed statistics of the wireline subscriber base are available at Annexure-I . Access Service Provider-wise Market Share of wireline Subscribers at the end of April 2026 The net addition/ decline in the wireline subscriber base of various access service providers in the month of April 2026 is given below: Access Service Provider-wise Net Addition/Decline in Wireline Subscribers during the month of April 2026 Wireless Telephone (Mobile + FWA) Subscriber Base The number of wireless (mobile + Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased from 1282.33 million at the end of March 2026 to 1288.96 million at the end of April 2026, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.52%. Total wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 735.73 million on 31 st March 2026 to 739.78 million on 30 th April 2026. The subscription in rural areas also increased from 546.60 million to 549.18 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions was 0.55% and 0.47%, respectively. The wireless tele-density in India increased from 89.88% at the end of March 2026 to 90.28% at the end of April 2026. The urban wireless tele-density increased from 143.10% at the end of March 2026 to 143.69% at the end of April 2026. The rural wireless tele-density increased from 59.89% to 60.16% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in the total number of wireless subscribers was 57.39% and 42.61%, respectively, at the end of April 2026. Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been included. 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 1265.73 million at the end of March 2026 to 1271.90 million at the end of April 2026 thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.49%. Wireless (mobile) subscription in urban areas increased from 726.51 million at the end of March 2026 to 730.30 million at the end of April 2026 and wireless (mobile) subscription in rural areas also increased from 539.22 million to 541.60 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscription were 0.52% and 0.44% respectively. The wireless (mobile) tele-density in India increased from 88.71% at the end of March 2026 to 89.09% at the end of April 2026. The urban wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 141.30% at the end of March 2026 to 141.85% at the end of April 2026 and rural wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 59.08% to 59.33% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscribers in the total number of wireless (mobile) subscribers were 57.42% and 42.58% respectively, at the end of April 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 included. • At the end of April 2026, the private access service providers held 92.67% 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 7.33%. 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 at the end of April 2026 Net Addition/ Decline in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers of Access Service Providers in the month of April 2026 Growth in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers Major Access Service Provider-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of April 2026 Licensed Service Area (LSA)-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of April 2026 All LSAs have shown growth in their wireless (Mobile) subscribers during the month of April 2026. (B) Wireless (FWA) subscriber Base At present, fixed wireless access (FWA) based services are being provided under two categories viz. 5G FWA i.e. FWA using 5G radio access technology; and UBR FWA i.e. FWA using Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR) technology. The number of total wireless FWA using 5G radio access technology (5G FWA) subscribers increased from 12.32 million at the end of March 2026 to 12.55 million at the end of April 2026 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas as 6.26 million and 6.29 million respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (5G FWA) subscribers in total wireless (5G FWA) subscribers were 49.90% and 50.10% respectively, at the end of April 2026. LSA wise information on the wireless (5G FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-V . The number of total wireless FWA using UBR technology (UBR FWA) subscription stood at 4.51 million at the end of April 2026 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 3.21 million and 1.29 million respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers in total wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers were 71.35% and 28.65% respectively, at the end of April 2026. LSA wise information on the wireless (UBR FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-VI . M2M cellular mobile connections The Number of M2M cellular mobile connections increased from 123.88 million at the end of March 2026 to 127.48 million at the end of April 2026. Bharti Airtel Limited has the highest number of M2M cellular mobile connections of 79.01 million with a market share of 61.98%, followed by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Vodafone Idea Limited and BSNL with market share of 19.05%, 15.73% and 3.25% respectively. Total Telephone Subscriber Base