Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st August 2025

Ministry of Communications Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st August 2025 Posted On: 06 OCT 2025 5:00PM by PIB Delhi Total Particulars Wireless* Wireline (Wireless+ Wireline) Broadband Subscribers (Million) 945.51 44.07 989.58 Urban Telephone Subscribers (Million) 645.27 41.52 686.79 Net Addition in August 2025 (Million) 4.23 -0.96 3.27 Monthly Growth Rate 0.66% -2.27% 0.48% Rural Telephone Subscribers (Million) 532.76 4.99 537.75 Net Addition in August 2025 (Million) 1.88 -0.64 1.24 Monthly Growth Rate 0.36% -11.44% 0.23% Total Telephone Subscribers (Million) 1178.03 46.51 1224.54 Net Addition in August 2025 (Million) 6.12 -1.61 4.51 Monthly Growth Rate 0.52% -3.34% 0.37% Overall Tele-density@ (%) 83.12% 3.28% 86.40% Urban Tele-density@ (%) 126.38% 8.13% 134.51% Rural Tele-density@ (%) 58.76% 0.55% 59.31% Share of Urban Subscribers 54.78% 89.28% 56.09% Share of Rural Subscribers 45.22% 10.72% 43.91% v. In the month of August 2025 15.05 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). vi. The Number of active wireless (Mobile) subscribers (on the date of peak VLR#) in August 2025 was 1086.18 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. I. Broadband Subscribers As per the information received from 1426 operators in August 2025, the total number of broadband (cid:108)subscribers increased from 984.69 million at the end of July 2025 to 989.58 million at the end of August 2025 with a monthly growth rate of 0.50%. 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 Broadband Subscribers (in million) P e r c e n t Segment Subscription A u g u s t - Change July-2025 2025 Fixed (Wired) Access W i r e d (DSL, FTTx, Ethernet/LAN, Cable 45.49 44.07 -3.13% subscribers Modem, ILL) [1] Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, 8.79 11.40 29.69% W i r e l e s s Radio/UBR, Satellite) Subscribers Mobile Wireless Access (Handset/Dongle based-3G, 4G, 930.41 934.11 0.40% 5G) Total Broadband Subscribers 984.69 989.58 0.50% [1] Variation in FWA broadband is due to the separate reporting of Fixed Wireless (Unlicensed bands), earlier included under FTTx by M/s Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited. st Top five Broadband (Wired + Wireless) Service providers as on 31 August 2025 Subscriber base S.N. Name of the Service Provider (In million) 1. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 501.31 2. Bharti Airtel Ltd. 309.22 3. Vodafone Idea Ltd. 127.48 4. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 34.31 5. Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.35 Market Share of Top Five Broadband (Wired + Wireless) Service 98.49% Providers The graphical representation of the service provider-wise market share of broadband services is given (cid:108) below: - st Service Provider-wise Market Share of Broadband (Wired + Wireless) Services as on 31 August 2025st Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service providers as on 31 August 2025 Subscriber base S.N. Name of the Service Provider (In million) 1. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 13.00 2. Bharti Airtel Ltd. 9.68 3. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd 4.38 4. Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.35 5. Kerala Vision Broadband Ltd. 1.40 Market Share of Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service 69.90% Providers Top five Wireless (Fixed Wireless & Mobile) Access st Broadband Service providers as on 31 August 2025 Subscriber base S.N. Name of the Service Provider (In million) 1. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 488.31 2. Bharti Airtel Ltd. 299.54 3. Vodafone Idea Ltd. 127.47 4. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.. 29.93 5. IBus Virtual Network Services Private Limited 0.12 Market Share of Top Five Wireless (Fixed Wireless & Mobile) 99.99% Access Broadband Service Providers II. Wireline Subscribers The number of wireline subscribers decreased from 48.11 million at the end of July 2025 to 46.51 million (cid:108)at the end of August 2025. The net decrease in the wireline subscriber base was -1.61 million with a monthly growth rate of -3.34%. The overall wireline tele-density in India decreased from 3.40% at the end of July 2025 to 3.28% at the (cid:108) st of August 2025. Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 8.13% and 0.55% respectively, on 31 August 2025. The respective share of urban subscribers, and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 89.28% and 10.72% respectively at the end of August 2025. PSU access service providers viz. BSNL, MTNL, and APSFL together held 20.53% of the wireline (cid:108) st market share as on 31 August 2025. Detailed statistics of the wireline subscriber base are available at Annexure-I. st Access Service Provider-wise Market Share of wireline Subscribers as on 31 August 2025 The net addition/ decline in the wireline subscriber base of various access service providers in the month (cid:108) of August 2025 is given below: Access Service Provider-wise Net Addition/Decline in Wireline Subscribers during the month of August 2025III. Wireless (Mobile + FWA) Subscribers The number of wireless (mobile + fixed wireless access) subscribers increased from 1171.91 million at (cid:108) the end of July 2025 to 1178.03 million at the end of August 2025, thereby registering a monthly growth st rate of 0.52%. Total wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 641.03 million on 31 July st 2025 to 645.27 million on 31 August 2025. The subscription in rural areas also increased from 530.88 million to 532.76 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions was 0.66% and 0.36%, respectively. The wireless tele-density in India increased from 82.75% at the end of July 2025 to 83.12% at the end (cid:108) of August 2025. The urban wireless tele-density increased from 125.74% at the end of July 2025 to 126.38% at the end of August 2025. The rural wireless tele-density increased from 58.57% to 58.76% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in the total number of wireless subscribers was 54.78% and 45.22%, respectively, at the end of August 2025. The details of Wireless (mobile) subscribers and Wireless (FWA) subscribers are given below: (cid:108) (A) Wireless (mobile) subscribers The number of wireless (mobile) subscribers increased from 1163.51 million at the end of July 2025 to (cid:108) 1167.03 million at the end of August 2025 thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.30%. Wireless (mobile) subscription in urban areas increased from 636.02 million at the end of July 2025 to 638.49 million at the end of August 2025 and wireless (mobile) subscription in rural areas also increased from 527.49 million to 528.54 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscription ware 0.39% and 0.20% respectively.The wireless (mobile) tele-density in India increased from 82.16% at the end of July 2025 to 82.35% at (cid:108) the end of August 2025. The urban wireless (mobile) tele-density decreased from 124.75% at the end of July 2025 to 125.05% at the end of August 2025 and rural wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 58.20% to 58.30% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscribers in the total number of wireless (mobile) subscribers ware 54.71% and 45.29% respectively at the end of August 2025. The detailed statistics of wireless (mobile) subscriber base is available at Annexure-II. st • As on 31 August 2025 the private access service providers held a market share of 92.11% of the wireless (mobile) subscribers, whereas PSU access service providers viz. BSNL and MTNL together held a market share of 7.89%. The graphical representation of access service provider-wise market share and net additions in wireless (cid:108) (mobile) subscriber base are given below: - st Access Service Provider-wise Market Shares in term of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers as on 31 August 2025Net Addition/ Decline in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers of Access Service Providers in the month of August 2025 Growth in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers Major Access Service Provider-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of August 2025Service Area-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of August 2025 Except West Bengal, North East and Punjab, all other service areas have showed growth in their wireless (cid:108) (Mobile) subscribers during the month of August 2025. (B) Wireless (FWA) subscribers At present, fixed wireless access (FWA) based services are being provided under two categories viz. (cid:108)a. 5G FWA i.e. FWA using 5G radio access technology; and b. UBR FWA i.e. FWA using unlicensed band radio (UBR) technology. The number of wireless (5G FWA) subscribers increased from 8.40 million at the end of July 2025 to (cid:108) 8.90 million at the end of August 2025 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 5.27 million and 3.63 million, respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (5G FWA) subscribers in total wireless (5G FWA) subscribers were 59.21% and 40.79%, respectively at the end of August 2025. Information on the wireless (5G FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-V. (cid:108) Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited have started reporting the number of UBR FWA subscribers w.e.f. the (cid:108) month of August 2025. UBR FWA subscription stood at 2.1 million at the end of August 2025 with subscriptions in urban and (cid:108) rural areas of 1.51 million and 0.59 million, respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers in total wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers were 71.90% and 28.10%, respectively at the end of August 2025. Information on the wireless (UBR FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-VI. (cid:108) IV. M2M cellular mobile connections The Number of M2M cellular mobile connections increased from 84.62 million at the end of July 2025 to 89.70 million at the end of August 2025. Bharti Airtel Limited has the highest number of M2M cellular mobile connections of 52.61 million with a market share of 58.66%, followed by Vodafone Idea Limited, Reliance Jio Infocom Limited and BSNL with market share of 19.40%, 17.94% and 4.01% respectively. V. Total Telephone SubscribersThe number of total telephone subscribers in India increased from 1220.02 million at the end of July, (cid:108) 2025 to 1224.54 million at the end of August, 2025, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.37%. Urban telephone subscription increased from 683.52 million at the end of July, 2025 to 686.79 million at the end of August, 2025 and the rural telephone subscription also increased from 536.51 million to 537.75 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.48% and 0.23% respectively during the month of August, 2025. The overall tele-density in India increased from 86.15% at the end of July 2025 to 86.40% at the end of (cid:108) August 2025. The urban tele-density increased from 134.07% at the end of July 2025 to 134.51% at the end of August 2025 and rural tele-density also increased from 59.19% to 59.31% during the same period. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of August 2025 were 56.09% and 43.91% respectively.st Overall Tele-density (LSA Wise) – As on 31 August 2025 As may be seen in the above chart, eight LSA have less tele-density than the all-India average tele- (cid:108) density at the end of August 2025. Delhi service area has the maximum tele-density of 277.54% and the Bihar service area has the minimum tele-density of 57.67% at the end of August 2025. Notes: - 1. Population data/projections are available state wise only. 2. 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 – 2036.3. 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). 4. Data/information for West Bengal includes Kolkata, Maharashtra includes Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh includes UPE & UPW service area(s). 5. 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. 6. Category-wise Growth in subscriber base Circle Category-wise Net Additions in Telephone Subscribers in the month of August 2025 Net additions in the month of August Telephone Subscriber base as on 31st Circle 2025 August 2025 Category W i r e l e s s * Wireline segment Wireline segment Wireless* segment segment Circle A -501302 2034040 19910357 392166487 Circle B -660696 2184599 11131988 476648195 Circle C -134238 1189253 3312893 195571116 Metro -310269 711591 12151981 113644307 All India -1606505 6119483 46507219 1178030105 *Wireless includes FWA subscription also. Circle Category-wise monthly and yearly Growth Rates in Telephone Subscribers in the month of August 2025 Monthly growth rate (%) Yearly growth rate (%) C i r c l e(July-25 to August-25) (August-24 to August-25) Category W i r e l e s s * Wireline Segment Wireless* Segment Wireline Segment Segment Circle A -2.46% 0.52% 41.66% 0.89% Circle B -5.60% 0.46% 12.21% 0.26% Circle C -3.89% 0.61% 11.08% 2.79% Metro -2.49% 0.63% 31.01% -0.80% All India -3.34% 0.52% 28.35% 0.78% *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 August 2025, on a (cid:108) 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 August 2025 on a monthly basis all circles have (cid:108) registered a decline in their subscriber bases and on a yearly basis, all circles have registered a growth in their subscriber bases. Out of the total 1167.03 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1086.18 million wireless (mobile) (cid:108)subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in the month of August 2025. The proportion of active wireless (mobile) subscribers was approximately 93.07% of the total wireless (mobile) subscriber base. The detailed statistics on proportion of active wireless subscribers (also referred to as VLR (cid:108) subscribers) on the date of peak VLR in the month of August 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 August 2025 MTNL has the maximum proportion 124.41% of its active wireless (mobile) subscribers (VLR) as (cid:108) against its total wireless (mobile) subscribers (HLR) on the date of peak VLR in the month of August 2025. BSNL has the minimum proportion of VLR as 60.38% of its HLR during the same period. Service Area wise percentage of VLR Subscribers in the month of August 2025VIII. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) MNP was implemented in Haryana Licensed Service Area (LSA) with effect from 25.11.2010 and (cid:108) 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 August 2025, about 15.05 million subscribers submitted their requests for (cid:108) MNP. Out of total requests, number of requests received from Zone-I & Zone-II were about 8.42 million and 6.62 million respectively. In MNP Zone-I (Northern and Western India), the highest number of requests have been received (cid:108) in UP (East) LSA (about 2.09 million) followed by UP (West) LSA (about 1.52 million). In MNP Zone-II (Southern and Eastern India), the highest number of requests have been received (cid:108) in Madhya Pradesh LSA (about 1.45 million) followed by Bihar LSA (about 1.30 million). Service Area Wise MNP Status Zone-I Zone–II Number of Porting Requests Number of Porting Requests in in Service Area the month of Service Area the month of (in (in Million) Million) July-25 August-25 July-25 August-25 A n d h r a Delhi 0.71 0.69 0.69 0.66 Pradesh Gujarat 1.16 1.03 Assam 0.13 0.13 Haryana 0.45 0.45 Bihar 1.15 1.30 H i m a c h a l 0.05 0.05 Karnataka 0.63 0.60 Pradesh J a m m u & 0.08 0.07 Kerala 0.30 0.28 KashmirMaharashtra 1.13 1.06 Kolkata 0.19 0.20 M a d h y a Mumbai 0.29 0.28 1.47 1.45 Pradesh Punjab 0.40 0.39 North East 0.03 0.03 Rajasthan 0.85 0.80 Odisha 0.25 0.25 UP (East) 2.13 2.09 Tamil Nadu 0.64 0.60 UP (West) 1.53 1.52 West Bengal 1.15 1.12 Total 8.77 8.42 Total 6.63 6.62 Total (Zone-I + Zone-II) 15.41 15.05 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), TRAINote: 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: - 1 Total IMSI's in HLR (A) 2 Less: (B = a + b + c + d + e) a. Test/Service Cards b. Employees c. Stock in hand/in Distribution Channels (Active Card) d. Subscriber Retention period expired e. Service suspended pending disconnection 3 Subscribers Base (A-B) Visitor Location Register (VLR) is a temporary database of the subscribers who have roamed into theparticular 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. 5G FWA Subscriber Base Annexure-V S e r v i c e Bharti Airtel Reliance Jio Total Area July-25 August-25 July-25 August-25 July-25 August-25 A n d h r a 177,752 195,960 547,960 573,123 725,712 769,083 Pradesh Assam 36,911 40,624 143,848 152,880 180,759 193,504 Bihar 74,641 85,980 490,871 525,129 565,512 611,109 Delhi 106,193 113,891 229,078 229,208 335,271 343,099 Gujarat 111,916 122,558 375,537 387,552 487,453 510,110 Haryana 54,399 59,338 186,951 195,556 241,350 254,894 Himachal 8,825 9,695 58,402 62,206 67,227 71,901 Pradesh J & K 32,137 35,003 144,039 150,144 176,176 185,147 Karnataka 174,477 190,348 351,817 363,327 526,294 553,675 Kerala 35,550 39,504 131,059 139,760 166,609 179,264 Kolkata 63,435 67,843 154,978 156,257 218,413 224,100 M a d h y a 84,597 91,576 426,614 452,663 511,211 544,239 Pradesh Maharashtr 170,668 185,785 512,281 532,893 682,949 718,678 a Mumbai 70,080 75,632 93,080 95,525 163,160 171,157 North East 19,321 21,709 69,391 73,208 88,712 94,917 Odisha 43,173 47,296 211,432 226,688 254,605 273,984 Punjab 91,332 99,479 404,730 419,972 496,062 519,451 Rajasthan 116,617 127,478 363,258 381,286 479,875 508,764 T a m i l 242,085 262,278 316,468 326,039 558,553 588,317 Nadu U.P.(E) 105,951 117,839 520,021 550,049 625,972 667,888 U.P.(W) 84,647 94,590 411,662 435,985 496,309 530,575 W e s t 48,576 54,164 302,452 331,841 351,028 386,005 Bengal Total 1953283 2,138,570 6,445,929 6,761,291 8,399,212 8,899,861N e t 185287 315362 500649 Addition Monthly 9.49% 4.89% 5.96% Growth% Annexure-VI UBR FWA Subscriber Base Number of UBR FWA subscribers of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited* Service Area on 31.08.2025 Andhra Pradesh 157,025 Assam 17,555 Bihar 139,818 Delhi 144,120 Gujarat 152,408 Haryana 94,995 Himachal Pradesh 4,677 Jammu & Kashmir 39,283 Karnataka 120,346 Kerala 6,550 Kolkata 89,559 Madhya Pradesh 115,637 Maharashtra 172,621 Mumbai 34,078 North East 7,096 Odisha 25,851 Punjab 133,799 Rajasthan 154,604 Tamil Nadu 96,045 Uttar Pradesh (East) 150,701 Uttar Pradesh (West) 179,922 West Bengal 62,703 Total 2,099,393 * Only Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has reported the information on the number of UBR FWA subscribers. ***** Samrat/Allen (Release ID: 2175403)