THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
NEW
DELHI, OCTOBER 27, 2026
India's total
telephone subscriber base increased by 7.23 million in September 2026 to
1,367.93 million, driven by robust growth in wireless connections, according to
data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The telecom
regulator's subscription data for September showed that wireless subscribers
rose by 6.94 million during the month, while wireline connections added 0.29
million. The overall monthly growth rate stood at 0.53 per cent for wireless
services and 0.60 per cent for wireline connections.
The total telephone
subscriber base comprised 1,319.19 million wireless subscribers and 48.74
million wireline connections at the end of September.
Urban areas continued
to account for the bulk of telephone connections, with 807.78 million
subscribers, while the rural subscriber base stood at 560.16 million. Rural
areas added 1.73 million telephone subscribers during the month, including 1.70
million wireless users, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.31 per cent.
Urban areas,
meanwhile, recorded a net addition of 5.50 million telephone subscribers,
comprising 5.24 million wireless and 0.26 million wireline connections. The
urban subscriber base grew by 0.69 per cent during September.
The data highlighted
a continuing gap in telecom penetration between urban and rural India. Overall
tele-density, including machine-to-machine (M2M) cellular mobile connections,
stood at 95.52 per cent at the end of September. Urban tele-density was
significantly higher at 155.85 per cent, compared with 61.30 per cent in rural
areas.
Excluding M2M
cellular mobile connections, the country's overall tele-density stood at 85.41
per cent, with the wireless segment accounting for 82 per cent and wireline
services contributing 3.40 per cent, according to the report.
India's broadband
subscriber base also remained substantial. Including M2M cellular mobile
connections, the total number of broadband subscribers stood at 1,107.68
million, comprising 1,058.79 million wireless and 48.89 million wireline
subscribers.
Excluding M2M
cellular mobile connections, the broadband subscriber base was 1,013.87
million, of which 964.98 million were wireless subscribers and 48.89 million were
wireline users.
The number of active
wireless subscribers, measured on the date of peak Visitor Location Register
(VLR), stood at 1,212.80 million in September, indicating the scale of active
mobile usage across the country.
Meanwhile, 16.77 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) during the month, reflecting continued demand among consumers to switch service providers while retaining their existing mobile numbers.
