THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

BHUBANESWAR, OCTOBER 30, 2026

Reliance Jio strengthened its dominance in India’s telecom market in September, adding nearly 10 times as many core mobile subscribers as rival Bharti Airtel, while also registering a significant increase in active users. The latest subscriber data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) highlights Jio’s continued grip on the market, even as Airtel witnessed a sharp slowdown in its core mobile subscriber additions.

According to analyst reports based on TRAI data, India’s core mobile subscriber base, excluding machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, expanded by 2.2 million month-on-month to reach 1.15 billion in September. Of the total additions, Jio accounted for 1.9 million subscribers, while Airtel added just 0.2 million, taking Jio’s monthly addition to nearly 10 times that of its closest rival.

Jio also maintained its lead in terms of the overall subscriber base, ending September with 511.14 million subscribers against Airtel’s 494.29 million. The figures underline the widening gap between the two leading private telecom operators in terms of customer acquisition and overall market presence.

Airtel loses momentum

Airtel’s addition of just 0.2 million core mobile subscribers in September marked its weakest monthly performance in recent months. Analysts have attributed the slowdown partly to the discontinuation of its affordable ₹299 prepaid plan in August, a move that appears to have affected its ability to attract and retain price-sensitive mobile customers.

Although Airtel recorded gross wireless subscriber additions of 2.69 million during the month, its relatively modest increase in core mobile subscribers indicates that a substantial portion of the additions may have come from low-average revenue per user (ARPU) machine-to-machine (M2M) connections rather than regular mobile customers.

This distinction is significant as core mobile subscriber additions offer a clearer picture of an operator’s performance in acquiring conventional wireless customers, while gross wireless figures may also include connections used by machines and connected devices.

Active users tell the bigger story

Jio’s advantage becomes even more pronounced when active subscribers are taken into account. The industry-wide core Visitor Location Register (VLR), which reflects the number of active mobile subscribers on telecom networks, increased by 0.6 million in September. However, Jio alone added 1.3 million active users during the month, indicating stronger growth in actual network usage.

Airtel, in contrast, recorded a decline of 0.2 million active subscribers, while Vodafone Idea lost 0.3 million during the same period. This suggests that Jio was the only major private telecom operator among the three to register an increase in its active user base, further strengthening its position in terms of customer engagement and network utilisation.

The VLR-based figures are particularly important because they provide an indication of the number of subscribers actively using a network, rather than merely counting the total number of registered connections. Jio’s strong performance on this front points to its ability to convert subscriber growth into active network usage.

The race has a clear leader

The September TRAI numbers indicate that Jio is not only retaining its leadership in the Indian telecom market but also consolidating its position against Airtel. Its superior additions in core mobile subscribers, stronger growth in active users and larger overall subscriber base collectively underline the widening gap between the two operators.

For Airtel, the immediate challenge will be to revive its slowing core mobile subscriber growth, particularly after the withdrawal of the ₹299 prepaid plan, which analysts believe may have affected its appeal among cost-conscious customers. The company will need to strengthen its customer acquisition strategy to regain momentum in an increasingly competitive market.

For Jio, meanwhile, the latest figures reinforce its position as the principal driver of growth in India’s mobile telecom sector. With 1.9 million of the industry's 2.2 million net core mobile subscriber additions in September, the company accounted for nearly nine out of every 10 new core wireless subscribers added during the month, further consolidating its lead over Airtel.