India adds 5.6m telecom subscribers in May; Reliance Jio retains broadband lead

The wireless subscriber base, comprising mobile and fixed wireless access (FWA) users, increased from 1.289 billion in April to 1.294 billion in May, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.43%. Urban wireless subscriptions rose by 4.58 million to 744.36 million, while rural subscriptions increased by 0.92 million to 550.11 million. Wireless tele-density improved to 90.61% during the month.

India’s wireline segment also recorded growth, with subscribers increasing from 48.58 million to 48.64 million. The wireline tele-density stood at 3.40%, with urban areas accounting for nearly 89.13% of total wireline subscribers.

Broadband subscriptions grew by 6.71 million during the month to reach 1.080 billion, representing a monthly growth rate of 0.63%. Mobile wireless access remained the dominant category with 1.015 billion subscribers, while fixed wired broadband users increased to 47.40 million and fixed wireless access subscribers rose to 17.97 million.

Among broadband providers, Reliance Jio Infocomm maintained its leadership position with 529.61 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel at 376.11 million and Vodafone Idea at 129.21 million. Together, the top five broadband service providers accounted for 98.59% of the market.

The number of wireless mobile subscribers increased to 1.277 billion during May. Private telecom operators continued to dominate the segment, holding a combined market share of 92.71%, while public sector operators BSNL and MTNL accounted for 7.29%.

The fixed wireless access market also expanded, with 5G FWA subscribers rising from 12.55 million to 12.73 million during the month. Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR)-based FWA subscriptions reached 4.73 million, with Reliance Jio Infocomm being the sole operator reporting UBR FWA subscribers.

Machine-to-machine (M2M) cellular mobile connections grew from 127.48 million to 131.11 million. Bharti Airtel led the segment with 80.83 million M2M connections and a market share of 61.65%, followed by Reliance Jio Infocomm and Vodafone Idea.

The report also showed strong subscriber activity, with 1.196 billion wireless users active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing 93.64% of the total wireless mobile subscriber base. Bharti Airtel recorded the highest proportion of active subscribers at 99.28%.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) remained robust, with 14.46 million subscribers submitting porting requests during May. Uttar Pradesh (East) recorded the highest number of requests in Zone I at 2.06 million, while Bihar led Zone II with 1.41 million requests.

Among telecom circles, Delhi recorded the highest tele-density at 366.12%, while Bihar remained the lowest at 63.79%. Nine licensed service areas reported tele-density levels below the national average. Media Brief