Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data at the end of March 2026

Ministry of Communications Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data at the end of March 2026 Posted On: 22 APR 2026 7:22PM by PIB Delhi Particulars Wireless* Wireline Total (Wireless+ Wireline) Broadband Subscribers (Million) 1019.37 46.51 1065.88 Urban Telephone Subscribers (Million) 735.73 43.06 778.79 Net Addition in March 2026 (Million) 4.98 0.15 5.13 Monthly Growth Rate 0.68% 0.34% 0.66% Rural Telephone Subscribers (Million) 546.60 5.19 551.79 Net Addition in March 2026 (Million) 4.04 0.11 4.15 Monthly Growth Rate 0.74% 2.09% 0.76% Total Telephone Subscribers (Million) 1282.33 48.25 1330.58 Net Addition in March 2026 (Million) 9.02 0.25 9.28 Monthly Growth Rate 0.71% 0.53% 0.70% Share of Urban Subscribers 57.37% 89.24% 58.53% Share of Rural Subscribers 42.63% 10.76% 41.47% Overall Tele-density@ with M2M cellular mobile 89.88% 3.38% 93.26% connections Urban Tele-density@ 143.10% 8.37% 151.47% Rural Tele-density@ 59.89% 0.57% 60.46% Tele-density@ without M2M cellular mobile 81.19% 3.38% 84.57% connections In the month of March 2026, 14.63 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The number of active wireless (mobile) subscribers (on the date of peak VLR#) in March 2026 was 1185.60 million. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Note: * The wireless subscriber base comprises of wireless mobile telephone subscribers (including M2M cellular mobile connections), and FWA subscribers. @ Tele-density has been computed on the basis of the projection of population from the ‘Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011 – 2036’, published in July 2020. # VLR is an acronym of Visitor Location Register. The dates of peak VLR for various Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) may be different in different service areas. Information in this press release is based on the data provided by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to TRAI.I. Broadband Subscribers As per the information received from 1520 operators for the month of March 2026, the total number of broadband subscribers increased from 1059.05 million at the end of February 2026 to 1065.88 million at the end of March 2026 with a monthly growth rate of 0.65%. 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 March 2026 Segment Subscription Broadband Subscribers at Percentage the end of Change (in million) February March 2026 2026 Wired Fixed Wired Access 46.02 46.51 1.07% subscribers (DSL, FTTx, Ethernet/LAN, Cable Modem, ILL) Wireless Fixed Wireless Access 16.51 17.10 3.60% Subscribers (5G FWA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Radio/UBR, Satellite) Mobile Wireless Access 996.52 1002.27 0.58% (Handset/Dongle/M2M-based-3G, 4G, 5G) Total Broadband Subscriptions 1059.05 1065.88 0.65% Top five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service providers at the end of March 2026 S.No. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) 1. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 523.44 2. Bharti Airtel Ltd. 368.84 3. Vodafone Idea Ltd. 128.91 4. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 27.37 5. Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.40 Market Share of Top Five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service 98.60% Providers The graphical representation of the service provider-wise market share of broadband services is given below: - Service Provider-wise Market Share of Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Services at the end of March 2026Top Five Fixed Wired Access Broadband Service providers at the end of March 2026 S.No. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) 1. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 14.23 2. Bharti Airtel Ltd. 10.71 3. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd 4.51 4. Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. 2.40 5. Kerala Vision Broadband Ltd. 1.48 Market Share of Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service 71.68% Providers Top five Wireless (Fixed wireless & mobile) Access Broadband Service providers at the end of March 2026 S.No. Service Provider Subscriber base (In million) 1. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. 509.21 2. Bharti Airtel Ltd. 358.13 3. Vodafone Idea Ltd. 128.91 4. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. 22.86 5. IBus Virtual Network Services Private Limited 0.11 Market Share of Top Five Wireless (Fixed wireless & Mobile) Access 99.99% Broadband Service providers II. Wireline Telephone Subscriber Base The number of wireline subscribers increased from 47.99 million at the end of February 2026 to 48.25 million at the end of March 2026. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.25 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.53%. The overall wireline tele-density in India increased from 3.37% at the end of February 2026 to 3.38% at the of March 2026. Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 8.37% and 0.57% respectively, at the end of March 2026. The respective share of urban subscribers, and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 89.24% and 10.76% respectively at the end of March 2026. PSU access service providers viz. BSNL, MTNL, and APSFL together held 18.84% of the wireline market share at the end of March 2026. Detailed statistics of the wireline subscriber base are available at Annexure-I. Access Service Provider-wise Market Share of Wireline Subscribers at the end of March 2026The net addition/ decline in the wireline subscriber base of various access service providers in the month of March 2026 is given below: Access Service Provider-wise Net Addition/Decline in Wireline Subscribers during the month of March 2026 III. Wireless Telephone (Mobile + FWA) Subscriber Base The number of wireless (mobile + Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased from 1273.31 million at the end of February 2026 to 1282.33 million at the end of March 2026, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.71%. Total wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 730.75 million at the end of February 2026 to 735.73 million at the end of March 2026. The subscription in rural areas alsoincreased from 542.56 million to 546.60 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions was 0.68% and 0.74%, respectively. The wireless tele-density in India increased from 89.30% at the end of February 2026 to 89.88% at the end of March 2026. The urban wireless tele-density increased from 142.32% at the end of February 2026 to 143.10% at the end of March 2026. The rural wireless tele-density increased from 59.46% to 59.89% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in the total number of wireless subscribers was 57.37% and 42.63%, respectively, at the end of March 2026. Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered. The details of wireless (mobile) subscribers and wireless (FWA) subscribers are given below: (A) Wireless (Mobile) subscriber Base The number of wireless (mobile) subscribers increased from 1257.29 million at the end of February 2026 to 1265.73 million at the end of March 2026 thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.67%. Wireless (mobile) subscription in urban areas increased from 721.84 million at the end of February 2026 to 726.51 million at the end of March 2026 and wireless (mobile) subscription in rural areas also increased from 535.46 million to 539.22 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscription were 0.65% and 0.70% respectively. The wireless (mobile) tele-density in India increased from 88.17% at the end of February 2026 to 88.71% at the end of March 2026. The urban wireless (mobile) tele-density decreased from 140.58% at the end of February 2026 to 141.30% at the end of March 2026 and rural wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 58.68% to 59.08% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscribers in the total number of wireless (mobile) subscribers were 57.40% and 42.60% respectively, at the end of March 2026. The detailed statistics of wireless (mobile) subscriber base is available at Annexure-II.Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered. • At the end of March 2026, the private access service providers held 92.64% of the market share in terms of wireless (mobile) subscribers, whereas PSU access service providers viz. BSNL and MTNL together held a market share of 7.36%. The graphical representation of access service provider-wise market share and net additions in wireless (mobile) subscriber base are given below: - Access Service Provider-wise Market Shares in term of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers at the end of March 2026 Net Addition/ Decline in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers of Access Service Providers in the Month of March 2026 Growth in Wireless (Mobile) SubscribersMajor Access Service Provider-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the Month of March 2026 Licensed Service Area (LSA)-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the Month of March 2026 All LSAs have shown growth in their wireless (Mobile) subscribers during the month of March 2026. (B) Wireless (FWA) Subscriber Base At present, fixed wireless access (FWA) based services are being provided under two categories viz. 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 11.93 million at the end of February 2026 to 12.32 million at the end of March 2026 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas as 6.17 million and 6.15 million respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (5G FWA) subscribers in total wireless (5G FWA) subscribers were 50.37% and 49.63% respectively, at the end of March 2026. LSA wise information on the wireless (5G FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-V. UBR FWA subscription stood at 4.29 million at the end of March 2026 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 3.05 million and 1.23 million respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers in total wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers were 71.23% and 28.77% respectively, at the end of March 2026. LSA wise information on the wireless (UBR FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-VI. IV. M2M Cellular Mobile connections The Number of M2M cellular mobile connections increased from 118.47 million at the end of February 2026 to 123.88 million at the end of March 2026.Bharti Airtel Limited has the highest number of M2M cellular mobile connections of 76.99 million with a market share of 62.15%, followed by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Vodafone Idea Limited and BSNL with market share of 18.76%, 15.81% and 3.28% respectively. V. Total Telephone Subscriber Base The number of total telephone subscribers in India increased from 1321.31 million at the end of February 2026 to 1330.58 million at the end of March 2026, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.70%. Urban telephone subscription increased from 773.66 million at the end of February 2026 to 778.79 million at the end of March 2026 and the rural telephone subscription also increased from 547.65 million to 551.79 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.66% and 0.76% respectively during the month of March 2026. The overall tele-density in India increased from 92.66% at the end of February 2026 to 93.26% at the end of March 2026. The urban tele-density increased from 150.68% at the end of February 2026 to 151.47% at the end of March 2026 and rural tele-density also increased from 60.02% to 60.46% during the same period. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of March 2026 were 58.53% and 41.47% respectively.Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered. A summary of total telephone subscriber base at the end of March 2026 is given below: Telephone Subscriber Base at the end of March 2026 S. No. Type of telephone connection No. of Total subscribers (in million) (in million) 1. Wireless Consumer SIM 1,141.85 1,282.34 2. M2M SIM 123.88 3. FWA 16.61 4. Wireline 48.25 5. Total 1,330.58 The following table provides a summary information on wireless (mobile) telephone subscriber base at the end of March 2026: S. No. Item No. of subscribers (in million) 1. No. of Wireless (mobile) connections including M2M 1,265.73 cellular mobile connections * 2. No. of Wireless (mobile) connections excluding M2M 1,141.85 cellular mobile connections * Wireless (mobile) connections = Consumer SIM + M2M SIM Overall Tele-density (LSA Wise) – At the end of March 2026As may be seen in the above chart, nine LSAs have less tele-density than the all-India average tele-density at the end of March 2026. Delhi LSA has the maximum tele-density of 361.50% and the Bihar LSA has the minimum tele-density of 63.54% at the end of March 2026. 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 published in July 2020. 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 areas. 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. In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been included. VI. Category-wise Growth in subscriber base Circle Category-wise Net Additions in Telephone Subscribers in the Month of March 2026 Circle Net additions in the month of March Telephone Subscriber base at the end of 2026 March 2026 Category Wireline Wireless* Wireline Wireless* segment segment segment segment Circle A 199,297 3,123,332 20,644,918 429,741,047 Circle B 77,105 2,792,637 11,830,219 498,763,901 Circle C 37,229 2,321,245 3,675,856 213,597,171 Metro -60,811 785,887 12,096,113 140,232,051 All India 252,820 9,023,101 48,247,106 1,282,334,170 Circle Category-wise Monthly and Yearly Growth Rates in Telephone Subscribers in the Month of March 2026 Circle Monthly growth rate (%) (February Yearly growth rate (%) (March 2025 to Category 2026 to March 2026) March 2026) Wireline Wireless* Segment Wireline Wireless* Segment Segment Segment Circle A 0.97% 0.73% 41.71% 11.18% Circle B 0.66% 0.56% 15.98% 5.79% Circle C 1.02% 1.10% 24.75% 11.09% Metro -0.50% 0.56% 29.70% 23.58% All India 0.53% 0.71% 30.25% 10.19% * The wireless subscriber base comprises of wireless mobile telephone subscribers (including M2M cellular mobile connections), and FWA subscribers. 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 March 2026, on a monthly basis, all circles have registered a growth in their subscriber bases. On a yearly basis also, all the circles have registered a growth in their wireless subscriber bases. In the wireline segment, during the month of March 2026, on a monthly basis, all circles except ‘Metro’, have registered a growth in their subscribers. On a yearly basis, all circles have registered a growth in their wireline subscriber bases. VII. Active Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers (VLR Data) Out of the total 1265.73 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1185.60 million wireless (mobile) subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in the month of March 2026. The proportion of active wireless (mobile) subscribers was approximately 93.67% of the total wireless (mobile) subscriber base. The detailed statistics on the proportion of active wireless (mobile) subscribers (also referred to as VLR subscribers) on the date of peak VLR in the month of March 2026 is available at Annexure-III and the methodology used for reporting VLR subscribers is available at Annexure-IV. Percentage of VLR Subscribers for the Top Four Access Service Providers in the month of March 2026 Bharti Airtel has the maximum proportion- 99.24% of its active wireless (mobile) subscribers (VLR) as against its total wireless (mobile) subscribers (HLR) on the date of peak VLR in the month of March 2026. Service Area wise percentage of VLR Subscribers in the month of March 2026VIII. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) MNP was implemented in Haryana Licensed Service Area (LSA) with effect from 25.11.2010 and across the 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 LSA to another. During the month of March 2026, about 14.63 million subscribers submitted their requests for MNP. Out of the total requests, number of requests received from Zone-I & Zone-II were about 8.03 million and 6.61 million respectively. In MNP Zone-I (Northern and Western India), the highest number of requests have been received in U.P. (East) LSA (2.14 million) followed by U.P.(West) LSA (1.49 million). In MNP Zone-II (Southern and Eastern India), the highest number of requests have been received in Madhya Pradesh LSA (1.40 million) followed by Bihar LSA (1.32 million). Licensed Service Area Wise MNP Status (in million) Zone-I Zone–II Service Area Number of Porting Requests Service Area Number of Porting Requests in in the month of the month of February- March-26 February-26 March-26 26 Delhi 0.65 0.60 Andhra Pradesh 0.60 0.63 Gujarat 0.96 0.93 Assam 0.11 0.13 Haryana 0.43 0.43 Bihar 1.32 1.32 Himachal 0.06 0.06 Karnataka 0.55 0.55 Pradesh Jammu & 0.07 0.08 Kerala 0.21 0.23 Kashmir Maharashtra 0.97 0.92 Kolkata 0.18 0.17 Mumbai 0.25 0.25 Madhya 1.41 1.40 Pradesh Punjab 0.38 0.39 North East 0.03 0.04Rajasthan 0.79 0.75 Odisha 0.22 0.25 U.P.(East) 2.09 2.14 Tamil Nadu 0.56 0.63 U.P.(West) 1.43 1.49 West Bengal 1.19 1.26 Total 8.09 8.03 Total 6.38 6.61 Total (Zone-I + Zone-II) 14.47 14.63 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 (Arun Agarwal) E-mail: advmn@trai.gov.in Pr. Advisor (NSL), TRAINote: Peak VLR figures in some LSAs 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 the particular 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. Fixed-Wireless (5G) Subscribers Base Annexure-V 5G-Fixed Wireless Subscribers TSPs Name Bharti Airtel Reliance Jio Grand Total → ↓Telecom Feb-26 Mar-26 Feb-26 Mar-26 Feb-26 Mar-26 Service Area Andhra 3,20,295 326,398 7,11,614 733,617 10,31,909 1,060,015 Pradesh Assam 75,909 80,832 1,98,870 204,410 2,74,779 285,242 Bihar 1,79,877 191,521 6,94,852 719,098 8,74,729 910,619 Delhi 1,72,406 178,180 2,30,045 231,269 4,02,451 409,449 Gujarat 2,00,188 208,389 4,47,825 455,641 6,48,013 664,030 Haryana 93,761 98,694 2,35,091 243,166 3,28,852 341,860 Himachal 17,967 19,009 79,259 81,751 97,226 100,760 Pradesh Jammu & 65,573 71,441 1,79,321 184,530 2,44,894 255,971 Kashmir Karnataka 3,03,113 308,525 4,21,364 431,309 7,24,477 739,834 Kerala 67,595 69,684 1,89,636 197,432 2,57,231 267,116 Kolkata 96,732 100,899 1,63,902 166,225 2,60,634 267,124 Madhya 1,63,684 171,363 5,73,333 591,069 7,37,017 762,432 Pradesh Maharashtra 3,06,404 318,056 6,27,224 641,525 9,33,628 959,581 Mumbai 1,12,622 116,019 1,09,622 111,399 2,22,244 227,418 North East 39,550 41,719 90,119 92,735 1,29,669 134,454 Odisha 82,347 86,390 3,09,420 320,411 3,91,767 406,801 Punjab 1,70,756 180,691 5,02,984 514,395 6,73,740 695,086 Rajasthan 2,16,058 224,359 4,72,615 486,259 6,88,673 710,618 Tamil Nadu 4,17,219 428,203 3,88,299 400,354 8,05,518 828,557 Uttar 2,22,221 239,283 7,03,259 726,334 9,25,480 965,617 Pradesh (East) Uttar 1,65,957 174,395 5,41,636 560,565 7,07,593 734,960 Pradesh (West)West Bengal 98,910 103,608 4,72,145 490,616 5,71,055 594,224 TOTAL 35,89,144 3,737,658 83,42,435 8,584,110 1,19,31,579 12,321,768 Net 390,189 Addition 148,514 241,675 Monthly 4.14% 2.90% 3.27% Growth % Annexure-VI Fixed-Wireless (UBR) Subscribers Base UBR- Fixed Wireless Subscribers TSPs Name → Reliance Jio ↓Telecom Service Area Feb-26 Mar-26 Andhra Pradesh 3,34,154 353,145 Assam 34,095 35,934 Bihar 2,79,543 292,063 Delhi 2,82,343 299,206 Gujarat 2,79,451 293,618 Haryana 1,80,379 187,139 Himachal Pradesh 10,660 11,072 Jammu & Kashmir 77,705 79,862 Karnataka 2,51,523 265,531 Kerala 9,897 10,331 Kolkata 1,81,892 193,683 Madhya Pradesh 2,41,754 253,607 Maharashtra 3,35,594 353,187 Mumbai 58,526 61,722 North East 14,341 15,222 Odisha 54,079 57,163 Punjab 2,38,728 250,624 Rajasthan 2,88,428 299,821 Tamil Nadu 1,73,472 183,779 Uttar Pradesh (East) 2,80,254 290,342 Uttar Pradesh (West) 3,54,486 368,895 West Bengal 1,24,782 129,649TOTAL 40,86,086 4,285,595 Net Addition 199,509 Monthly Growth % 4.88% *Only Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has reported the information on the number of UBR FWA subscribers. ***** NJ/ARJ (Release ID: 2254646) Visitor Counter : 265