Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data as on 30th September 2025

2025-10-27 Information

Particulars

Wireless*

Wireline

Total

(Wireless+

Wireline)

Broadband Subscribers (Million)

951.23

44.40

995.63

Urban Telephone Subscribers (Million)

647.47

41.64

689.11

Net Addition in August 2025 (Million)

2.20

0.12

2.32

Monthly Growth Rate

0.34%

0.28%

0.34%

Rural Telephone Subscribers (Million)

534.85

4.98

539.83

Net Addition in August 2025 (Million)

2.09

-0.01

2.08

Monthly Growth Rate

0.39%

-0.23%

0.39%

Total Telephone Subscribers (Million)

1182.32

46.61

1228.94

Net Addition in August 2025 (Million)

4.29

0.11

4.40

Monthly Growth Rate

0.36%

0.23%

0.36%

Overall Tele-density^@(%)

83.36%

3.29%

86.65%

Urban Tele-density^@(%)

126.62%

8.14%

134.76%

Rural Tele-density^@(%)

58.98%

0.55%

59.52%

Share of Urban Subscribers

54.76%

89.32%

56.07%

Share of Rural Subscribers

45.24%

10.68%

43.93%

In the month of September 2025 15.13 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP).

The Number of active wireless (Mobile) subscribers (on the date of peak VLR#) in September 2025 was 1088.59 million.

Note:

^*Wireless includes Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) subscription also.

@ Based on the projection of population from the ‘Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011 – 2036’.

# VLR is acronym of Visitor Location Register. The dates of peak VLR for various telecom service providers (TSPs) are different in different service areas.

Information in this Press Release is based on the data provided by the TSPs to TRAI.

Broadband Subscribers

As per the information received from 1392 operators in September 2025, the total number of broadband subscribers increased from 989.58 million at the end of August 2025 to 995.63 million at the end of September 2025 with a monthly growth rate of 0.61%. 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 August 2025

Segment

Subscription

Broadband Subscribers

(in million)

Percent Change

August-2025

September-2025

Wired subscribers

Fixed (wired) Access

(DSL, FTTx, Ethernet/LAN, Cable Modem, ILL)

44.07

44.40

0.75%

Wireless Subscribers

Fixed Wireless Access

(5G FWA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Radio/UBR, Satellite)

11.40

12.31

7.99%

Mobile Wireless Access

(Handset/Dongle based-3G, 4G, 5G)

934.11

938.92

0.51%

Total Broadband Subscribers

989.58

995.63

0.61%

Top five Broadband (Wired + Wireless) Service providers as on 30^th September 2025

S.N.

Name of the Service Provider

Subscriber base

(In million)

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

505.47

Bharti Airtel Ltd.

310.42

Vodafone Idea Ltd.

127.78

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.

34.71

Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.

2.34

Market Share of Top Five Broadband (Wired+Wireless) Service Providers

98.50%

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 30^th September 2025

Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service providers as on 30^th September 2025

S.N.

Name of the Service Provider

Subscriber base

(In million)

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

13.20

Bharti Airtel Ltd.

9.80

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd

4.40

Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.

2.34

Kerala Vision Broadband Ltd.

1.42

Market Share of Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service Providers

70.19%

Top five Wireless (Fixed wireless & mobile) Access

Broadband Service providers as on 30^th September 2025

S.N.

Name of the Service Provider

Subscriber base

(In million)

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

492.27

Bharti Airtel Ltd.

300.62

Vodafone Idea Ltd.

127.77

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd..

30.31

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 46.51 million at the end of August 2025 to 46.61 million at the end of September 2025. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.11 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.23%.

The overall wireline tele-density in India increased from 3.28% at the end of August 2025 to 3.29% at the end of September 2025. Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 8.14% and 0.55% respectively, on 30^th September 2025. The respective share of urban subscribers, and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 89.32% and 10.68% respectively at the end of September 2025.

PSU access service providers viz. BSNL, MTNL, and APSFL together held 20.38% of the wireline market share as on 30^th September 2025. 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 August 2025

The net addition/ decline in the wireline subscriber base of various access service providers in the month of September 2025 is given below:

Access Service Provider-wise Net Addition/Decline in Wireline Subscribers during the month of September 2025

Wireless Telephone (Mobile + FWA) Subscriber Base

The number of wireless (mobile + Fixed wireless access) subscribers increased from 1178.03 million at the end of August 2025 to 1182.32 million at the end of September 2025, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.36%. Total wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 645.27 million on 31^st August 2025 to 647.47 million on 30^th September 2025. The subscription in rural areas also increased from 532.76 million to 534.85 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions was 0.34% and 0.39%, respectively.

The wireless tele-density in India increased from 83.12% at the end of August 2025 to 83.36% at the end of September 2025. The urban wireless tele-density increased from 126.38% at the end of August 2025 to 126.62% at the end of September 2025. The rural wireless tele-density increased from 58.76% to 58.98% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in the total number of wireless subscribers was 54.76% and 45.24%, respectively, at the end of September 2025.

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 1167.03 million at the end of August 2025 to 1170.44 million at the end of September 2025 thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.29%. Wireless (mobile) subscription in urban areas increased from 638.49 million at the end of August 2025 to 640.17 million at the end of September 2025 and wireless (mobile) subscription in rural areas also increased from 528.54 million to 530.27 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscription were 0.26% and 0.33% respectively.

The wireless (mobile) tele-density in India increased from 82.35% at the end of August 2025 to 82.53% at the end of September 2025. The urban wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 125.05% at the end of August 2025 to 125.19% at the end of September 2025 and rural wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 58.30% to 58.47% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscribers in the total number of wireless (mobile) subscribers were 54.69% and 45.31% respectively at the end of September 2025.

The detailed statistics of wireless (mobile) subscriber base is available at Annexure-II.

• As on 30^th September 2025 the private access service providers held 92.10% of the wireless (mobile) subscribers, whereas PSU access service providers viz. BSNL and MTNL together held a market share of 7.90%.

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 30^th September 2025

Net Addition/ Decline in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers of Access Service Providers in the month of September 2025

Growth in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers

Major Access Service Provider-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of September 2025

Service Area-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of September 2025

Except Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Kolkata and Rajasthan, all other service areas have shown growth in their wireless (Mobile) subscribers during the month of September 2025.

(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 wireless (5G FWA) subscribers increased from 8.90 million at the end of August 2025 to 9.40 million at the end of September 2025 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 5.53 million and 3.87 million, respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (5G FWA) subscribers in total wireless (5G FWA) subscribers were 58.85% and 41.15%, respectively at the end of September 2025.

Information on the wireless (5G FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-V.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited have started reporting the number of UBR FWA subscribers w.e.f. the month of August 2025.

UBR FWA subscription stood at 2.48 million at the end of September 2025 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 1.77 million and 0.71 million, respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers in total wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers were 71.30% and 28.70%, respectively at the end of September 2025.

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 89.70 million at the end of August 2025 to 94.57 million at the end of September 2025.

Bharti Airtel Limited has the highest number of M2M cellular mobile connections of 56.33 million with a market share of 59.56%, followed by Vodafone Idea Limited, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and BSNL with market share of 18.79%, 17.84% and 3.81% respectively.

Total Telephone Subscriber Base

The number of total telephone subscribers in India increased from 1224.54 million at the end of August 2025 to 1228.94 million at the end of September 2025, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.36%. Urban telephone subscription increased from 686.79 million at the end of August 2025 to 689.11 million at the end of September 2025 and the rural telephone subscription also increased from 537.75 million to 539.83 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.34% and 0.39% respectively during the month of September 2025.

The overall tele-density in India increased from 86.40% at the end of August 2025 to 86.65% at the end of September 2025. The urban tele-density increased from 134.51% at the end of August 2025 to 134.76% at the end of September 2025 and rural tele-density also increased from 59.31% to 59.52% during the same period. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of September 2025 were 56.07% and 43.93% respectively.

Overall Tele-density (LSA Wise) – As on 30^th September 2025

As may be seen in the above chart, eight LSA have less tele-density than the all-India average tele-density at the end of September 2025. Delhi service area has the maximum tele-density of 279.33% and the Bihar service area has the minimum tele-density of 58.02% at the end of September 2025.

Notes: –

Population data/projections are available state wise only.

Tele-density figures are derived from the telephone subscriber data provided by the access service providers and the projection of population from the “Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011 – 2036.

Telephone subscriber data for Delhi, includes, apart from the data for the State of Delhi, wireless subscriber data for the areas served by the local exchanges of Ghaziabad & Noida (in Uttar Pradesh) and Gurgaon & Faridabad (in Haryana).

Data/information for West Bengal includes Kolkata, Maharashtra includes Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh includes UPE & UPW service area(s).

Data/information for Andhra Pradesh includes Telengana, Madhya Pradesh includes Chhatishgarh, Bihar includes Jharkhand, Maharashtra includes Goa, Uttar Pradesh includes Uttarakhand, West Bengal includes Sikkim and North-East includes Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland & Tripura States.

Category-wise Growth in subscriber base

Circle Category-wise Net Additions in Telephone Subscribers in the month of September 2025

Circle

Category

Net additions in the month of September 2025

Telephone Subscriber base as on 30^th September 2025

Wireline segment

Wireless* segment

Wireline segment

Wireless* segment

Circle A

-2909

1297599

19907448

393464086

Circle B

75061

1183913

11207049

477832108

Circle C

53574

1118830

3366467

196689946

Metro

-20603

693744

12131378

114338051

All India

105123

4294086

46612342

1182324191

*Wireless includes FWA subscription also

Circle Category-wise monthly and yearly Growth Rates in Telephone Subscribers in the month of September 2025

Circle Category

Monthly growth rate (%) (August 2025 to September 2025)

Yearly growth rate (%) (September 2024 to September 2025)

Wireline Segment

Wireless* Segment

Wireline Segment

Wireless* Segment

Circle A

-0.01%

0.33%

39.30%

1.22%

Circle B

0.67%

0.25%

9.98%

0.51%

Circle C

1.62%

0.57%

9.83%

3.38%

Metro

-0.17%

0.61%

29.25%

-0.20%

All India

0.23%

0.36%

26.21%

1.14%

*Wireless includes FWA subscription also

Note: Circle Category-Metro includes Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

As can be seen in the above tables, in the wireless segment, during the month of September 2025, on a monthly basis, all circles have registered a growth in their subscriber bases. On a yearly basis, except ‘Metro’, all other circles have registered a growth in their subscriber bases.

In the wireline segment, during the month of September 2025 on a monthly basis ‘circle A’ and ‘Metro’ have registered a decline in their subscriber bases and on a yearly basis, all circles have registered a growth in their subscriber bases.

Active Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers (VLR Data)

Out of the total 1170.44 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1088.59 million wireless (mobile) subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in the month of September 2025. The proportion of active wireless (mobile) subscribers was approximately 93.01% of the total wireless (mobile) subscriber base.

The detailed statistics on proportion of active wireless subscribers (also referred to as VLR subscribers) on the date of peak VLR in the month of September 2025 is available at Annexure-III and the methodology used for reporting VLR subscribers is available at Annexure-IV.

Access Service Provider-wise Percentage of VLR Subscribers

in the month of September 2025

MTNL has the maximum proportion 152.53% of its active wireless (mobile) subscribers (VLR) as against its total wireless (mobile) subscribers (HLR) on the date of peak VLR in the month of September 2025. BSNL has the minimum proportion of VLR as 60.25% of its HLR during the same period.

Service Area wise percentage of VLR Subscribers

in the month of September 2025

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

MNP was implemented in Haryana Licensed Service Area (LSA) with effect from 25.11.2010 and across rest of the country with effect from 20.01.2011. Initially, it was available only within the same LSA. Inter-LSA MNP was introduced nationwide with effect from 03.07.2015, enabling wireless subscribers to retain their mobile numbers when they relocate from one service area to another.

During the month of September 2025, about 15.13 million subscribers submitted their requests for MNP. Out of total requests, number of requests received from Zone-I & Zone-II were about 8.45 million and 6.68 million respectively.

In MNP Zone-I (Northern and Western India), the highest number of requests have been received in UP(East) LSA (about 2.08 million) followed by U.P.(West) LSA (about 1.45 million).

In MNP Zone-II (Southern and Eastern India), the highest number of requests have been received in Bihar LSA (about 1.41 million) followed by Madhya Pradesh LSA (about 1.39 million).

Service Area Wise MNP Status (All figures in million)

Zone-I

Zone–II

Service Area

Number of Porting Requests in

the month of

Service Area

Number of Porting Requests in

the month of

August-25

September-25

August-25

September-25

Delhi

0.69

0.75

Andhra Pradesh

0.66

0.70

Gujarat

1.03

1.02

Assam

0.13

0.12

Haryana

0.45

Bihar

1.30

1.41

Himachal Pradesh

0.05

0.06

Karnataka

0.60

0.63

Jammu & Kashmir

0.07

Kerala

0.28

0.25

Maharashtra

1.06

Kolkata

0.20

0.19

Mumbai

0.28

Madhya Pradesh

1.45

1.39

Punjab

0.39

0.41

North East

0.03

Rajasthan

0.80

Odisha

0.25

0.24

U.P.(East)

2.09

2.08

Tamil Nadu

0.60

U.P.(West)

1.52

1.45

West Bengal

1.12

Total

8.42

8.45

Total

6.62

6.68

Total (Zone-I + Zone-II)

15.05

15.13

Contact details in case of any clarification: –

Shri Akhilesh Kumar Trivedi, Advisor (NSL-II),

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

World Trade Centre, Tower-F,

Nauroji Nagar, New Delhi – 110029

Ph: 011-20907758 (S. B. Singh)

E-mail: advmn@trai.gov.in Pr. Advisor (NSL), TRAI

Note: Peak VLR figures in some circles of some of the service providers are more than their HLR figures due to a large number of inroamers.

Annexure IV

VLR Subscribers in the Wireless Segment

Home Location Register (HLR) is a central database that contains details of each mobile phone subscriber that is authorized to use the GSM core network. The HLRs store details of every SIM card issued by the service provider. Each SIM has a unique identifier called an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), which is the primary key to each HLR record. The HLR data is stored for as long as a subscriber remains with the service provider. HLR also manages the mobility of subscribers by means of updating their position in administrative areas. It sends the subscriber data to a Visitor Location Register (VLR).

Subscriber numbers reported by the service providers is the difference between the numbers of IMSI registered in service provider’s HLR and sum of other figures as given below: –

Total IMSI’s in HLR (A)

Less: (B = a + b + c + d + e)

Test/Service Cards

Employees

Stock in hand/in Distribution Channels (Active Card)

Subscriber Retention period expired

Service suspended pending disconnection

Subscribers Base (A-B)

Visitor Location Register (VLR) is a temporary database of the subscribers who have roamed into the particular area, which it serves. Each base station in the network is served by exactly one VLR; hence a subscriber cannot be present in more than one VLR at a time.

If subscriber is in active stage i.e. he is able to send/receive calls/SMSs he is available both in HLR and VLR. However, it may be possible that the subscriber is registered in HLR but not in VLR due to the reason that he is either switched-off or moved out of coverage area, not reachable etc. In such circumstances he will be available in HLR but not in VLR. This causes difference between subscriber number reported by the service providers based on HLR and numbers available in VLR.

The VLR subscriber data calculated here is based on active subscribers in VLR on the date of Peak subscriber number in VLR of the particular month for which the data is being collected. This data is to be taken from the switches having the purge time of not more than 72 hours.

Annexure-V

Fixed-Wireless (5G) Subscribers Base

Licensed Service Area

Bharti Airtel

Reliance Jio

Grand Total

Aug-25

Sep-25

Aug-25

Sep-25

Aug-25

Sep-25

Andhra Pradesh

195,960

215,756

573,123

599,670

769,083

815,426

Assam

40,624

44,183

152,880

161,179

193,504

205,362

Bihar

85,980

96,264

525,129

561,780

611,109

658,044

Delhi

113,891

121,247

229,208

229,582

343,099

350,829

Gujarat

122,558

132,207

387,552

399,551

510,110

531,758

Haryana

59,338

64,018

195,556

203,503

254,894

267,521

Himachal Pradesh

9,695

10,676

62,206

65,953

71,901

76,629

Jammu & Kashmir

35,003

38,231

150,144

156,266

185,147

194,497

Karnataka

190,348

204,945

363,327

374,894

553,675

579,839

Kerala

39,504

43,696

139,760

149,111

179,264

192,807

Kolkata

67,843

71,499

156,257

157,683

224,100

229,182

Madhya Pradesh

91,576

99,215

452,663

477,045

544,239

576,260

Maharashtra

185,785

200,813

532,893

552,265

718,678

753,078

Mumbai

75,632

80,554

95,525

98,010

171,157

178,564

North East

21,709

24,011

73,208

76,636

94,917

100,647

Odisha

47,296

51,423

226,688

243,924

273,984

295,347

Punjab

99,479

108,409

419,972

436,901

519,451

545,310

Rajasthan

127,478

138,232

381,286

399,165

508,764

537,397

Tamil Nadu

262,278

281,917

326,039

336,760

588,317

618,677

Uttar Pradesh (East)

117,839

129,356

550,049

582,744

667,888

712,100

Uttar Pradesh (West)

94,590

103,117

435,985

458,132

530,575

561,249

West Bengal

54,164

59,707

331,841

362,568

386,005

422,275

TOTAL

2,138,570

2,319,476

6,761,291

7,083,322

8,899,861

9,402,798

Net Addition

180,906

322,031

502,937

Monthly Growth %

8.46%

4.76%

5.65%

Annexure-VI

Fixed-Wireless (UBR) Subscribers Base

Licensed Service Area

Reliance Jio *

Aug-25

Sep-25

Andhra Pradesh

157,025

190,118

Assam

17,555

20,701

Bihar

139,818

167,960

Delhi

144,120

170,518

Gujarat

152,408

176,582

Haryana

94,995

112,972

Himachal Pradesh

4,677

5,933

Jammu & Kashmir

39,283

46,375

Karnataka

120,346

145,001

Kerala

6,550

7,106

Kolkata

89,559

105,141

Madhya Pradesh

115,637

138,837

Maharashtra

172,621

203,764

Mumbai

34,078

38,677

North East

7,096

8,623

Odisha

25,851

31,543

Punjab

133,799

154,435

Rajasthan

154,604

179,469

Tamil Nadu

96,045

112,018

Uttar Pradesh (East)

150,701

176,285

Uttar Pradesh (West)

179,922

213,255

West Bengal

62,703

75,438

TOTAL

2,099,393

2,480,751

Net Addition

381,358

Monthly Growth %

18.17%

* Only Reliance Jio has reported FWA-UBR Subscriber Base

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