THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
NEW
DELHI, SEPTEMBER 28, 2026
India’s total
telephone subscriber base increased by 6.42 million in August 2026, taking the
overall base to 1.36 billion, according to telecom subscription data released
on Monday.
The total telephone
subscriber base, comprising wireless and wireline connections, rose from the
previous month, registering a monthly growth of 0.47 per cent. Wireless
subscribers accounted for 1,312.25 million connections, while the wireline
subscriber base stood at 48.45 million at the end of August.
Wireless
subscriptions registered a net addition of 5.98 million during the month, while
wireline connections increased by 0.44 million. The respective monthly growth
rates were 0.46 per cent and 0.93 per cent.
The urban segment
continued to account for the larger share of the country's telephone subscriber
base, with 802.28 million subscribers, or 58.96 per cent, while rural
subscribers stood at 558.43 million, accounting for 41.04 per cent.
The rural telephone
subscriber base grew by 0.83 million in August, translating into a monthly
growth rate of 0.15 per cent. Urban subscribers recorded a net addition of 5.59
million, with a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent.
India's overall
tele-density stood at 95.07 per cent at the end of August, including M2M
cellular mobile connections. Urban tele-density was significantly higher at 155
per cent, while rural tele-density stood at 61.12 per cent.
Excluding M2M
cellular mobile connections, overall tele-density stood at 85.26 per cent.
The broadband segment
also continued its expansion, with the total number of broadband subscribers
rising to 1,101.21 million at the end of August from 1,094.48 million in July,
registering a monthly growth of 0.61 per cent.
The broadband
subscriber base included 48.63 million fixed wired access connections, 19.34
million fixed wireless access connections and 1,033.24 million mobile wireless
access connections.
Fixed wireless access
emerged as the fastest-growing broadband segment in August, increasing 2.68 per
cent to 19.34 million subscribers. Fixed wired access subscribers rose 1.01 per
cent to 48.63 million, while mobile wireless access subscribers increased 0.56
per cent to 1,033.24 million.
The broadband market
remained highly concentrated, with the top five service providers accounting
for 98.58 per cent of the total broadband subscriber base.
Reliance Jio Infocomm
Ltd led the broadband segment with 538.03 million subscribers, followed by
Bharti Airtel Ltd with 386.39 million and Vodafone Idea Ltd with 130.88
million. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd had 27.82 million subscribers, while Atria
Convergence Technologies Ltd had 2.48 million.
In fixed wired access
broadband, Reliance Jio led with 14.81 million subscribers, followed by Bharti
Airtel with 11.44 million and BSNL with 4.56 million. Atria Convergence
Technologies had 2.48 million subscribers and Kerala Vision Broadband Ltd 1.56
million.
The top five fixed
wired broadband providers together accounted for 71.66 per cent of the segment.
In wireless
broadband, Reliance Jio had 523.22 million subscribers, followed by Bharti
Airtel at 374.96 million and Vodafone Idea at 130.87 million. BSNL had 23.26
million subscribers, while iBus Virtual Network Services Pvt Ltd had 0.12
million.
The top five wireless
broadband providers together accounted for 99.99 per cent of the segment.
Meanwhile, 15.83
million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
during August, indicating continued movement of subscribers between mobile
service providers.
The number of active
wireless subscribers, measured on the date of peak Visitor Location Register
(VLR), stood at 1,207.59 million during the month.
The wireline segment
also maintained its upward trajectory, with subscribers rising from 48.01
million at the end of July to 48.45 million at the end of August. Wireline
tele-density increased to 3.39 per cent from 3.36 per cent during the period.
Urban and rural wireline tele-density stood at 8.34 per cent and 0.58 per cent, respectively. Urban subscribers accounted for 89.08 per cent of the total wireline subscriber base, while the rural segment accounted for 10.92 per cent.
Public sector access service providers BSNL, MTNL and APSFL together held 16.05 per cent of the wireline market at the end of August.
