Reliance Jio continued to lead India’s telecom market in August, adding 2.4 million mobile subscribers during the month. Bharti Airtel followed closely, adding 2.11 million users, according to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The additions came as India’s overall mobile subscriber base continued to expand. The country added 5.51 million wireless mobile subscribers in August, taking the total base to nearly 1.293 billion. This represented a monthly growth of 0.43%.
Jio’s subscriber base increased from 506.03 million at the end of July to 508.43 million in August. Airtel also strengthened its customer base, rising from 489.49 million to 491.60 million during the month.
The latest numbers kept Jio at the top of India’s mobile market with a 39.31% share. Airtel followed with 38.01%. Vodafone Idea held 15.43%, while state-run BSNL accounted for 7.24%.
Vi continues to add users
Vodafone Idea (Vi) also recorded subscriber growth in August, adding 506,139 users. The increase extended the company’s run of monthly additions that began in February.
Vi’s subscriber base rose from around 199.06 million in July to 199.57 million in August. The company has been working to strengthen its network and improve its position in a market dominated by Jio and Airtel.
BSNL also added nearly 493,000 mobile users during the month, taking its subscriber base to around 93.67 million. MTNL, however, saw its subscriber numbers decline by nearly 5,900.
Jio, Airtel and Vi together accounted for more than 5 million of the industry’s net mobile additions during August. Their combined gains accounted for the vast majority of the month’s overall increase.
Jio, Airtel dominate mobile market
Private telecom operators continued to control most of India’s wireless market. They accounted for 92.75% of mobile subscribers at the end of August, while BSNL and MTNL together held the remaining 7.25%.
The numbers underline the scale of the competition between Jio and Airtel. The two companies together now account for more than 77% of India’s mobile subscriber market, with both adding more than two million users in August.
Jio also maintained a strong lead in fixed wireless access (FWA), an area that is becoming increasingly important in India’s broadband market.
The country’s FWA subscriber base grew 2.68% month-on-month to around 19.34 million in August. Jio accounted for about 14.79 million of these connections, while Airtel had around 4.03 million.
FWA services offer broadband connectivity without the need for traditional wired connections. The technology is particularly useful in areas where laying fibre networks can be difficult or expensive.
Broadband base crosses 1.1 billion
India’s wider broadband market also continued to grow in August. The total broadband subscriber base increased from around 1.09 billion in July to approximately 1.10 billion, registering monthly growth of about 0.61%.
The growth reflects the country’s rising dependence on digital connectivity. Mobile data and broadband services are now central to activities ranging from video streaming and digital payments to online education, gaming and remote work.
TRAI data also showed that total wireless subscribers, including mobile and fixed wireless access connections, reached around 1.312 billion at the end of August. That was a 0.46% increase from the previous month.
Millions continue to switch operators
The telecom market also remained active on the customer-switching front. Around 15.83 million mobile number portability requests were recorded during August.
Mobile number portability allows customers to move from one operator to another while retaining their existing phone number. The high number of requests indicates that consumers continue to compare network coverage, service quality, tariffs and data offerings before choosing an operator.
Uttar Pradesh East recorded the highest number of porting requests at around 2.23 million. Madhya Pradesh followed with 1.53 million, while Bihar recorded about 1.47 million requests.
Active users tell another story
The overall subscriber count does not necessarily mean every connection is actively being used. TRAI data showed that around 1.207 billion mobile subscribers were active at the end of August, accounting for about 93.36% of the total wireless subscriber base.
Airtel recorded the highest active subscriber proportion among the major operators at 99.01%. Jio followed closely at 98.80%, while Vi’s active subscriber proportion stood at 83.84%.
The figures highlight the different positions of India’s major telecom companies. Jio remains the market leader in both subscriber additions and overall market share, while Airtel continues to narrow the gap in subscriber numbers. Vi is gradually rebuilding its customer base, and BSNL continues to register additions.
With India’s mobile and broadband markets continuing to expand, telecom operators are likely to remain focused on network upgrades, customer retention, 5G services, pricing and broadband expansion. The August TRAI data shows that competition remains intense, with Jio and Airtel continuing to drive most of the growth in India’s telecom sector.
