India's telecommunications sector added 7.86mn subscribers in
January 2026, lifting the country's total telephone base to 1.31bn,
according to data released by India's Telecom Regulatory Authority
(TRAI) on March 19, 2026.
Broadband subscriptions reached the 1.05bn mark, up 0.20% from
December 2025. Wireless subscriptions, comprising mobile and Fixed
Wireless Access (FWA) connections, rose to 1.27bn, growing 0.60%
m/m.
Urban wireless subscribers reached 725.67mn while rural
subscribers stood at 540.67mn. Active wireless subscribers,
measured at peak Visitor Location Register utilisation, numbered
1.17bn, representing 93.70% of the total wireless base.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited(NSE:RELIANCE) dominated broadband
with 517.56mn subscribers, commanding the largest market share,
followed by Bharti Airtel Limited(NSE:BHARTIARTL) at 359.29mn and
Vodafone Idea Limited(NSE:IDEA) at 128.97mn. State owned Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL) held 29.64mn broadband subscribers.
The top five providers collectively accounted for 98.59% of
total broadband subscriptions. With the outstanding dues owed by
Vodafone Idea and shrinking base of BSNL, India is nearing a market
duopoly in telecom as Reliance Infocomm Jio and Bharti Airtel
remain the only two major players.
Fixed wireless access subscriptions grew sharply, with 5G FWA
connections rising to 11.53mn and Unlicensed Band Radio FWA
reaching 3.92mn. Machine-to-Machine cellular connections climbed to
113.46mn, with Bharti Airtel(NSE:BHARTIARTL) holding a 61.85% share
of that segment.
Mobile Number Portability(MNP) requests totalled 15.98mn during
January 2026, indicating sustained competitive churn across India's
telecom market as operators continue vying for subscriber retention
and upgrades.
© 2026 bne IntelliNews, source Magazine
