India, April 22 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
Particulars
Wireless*
Wireline
Total
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 connections
89.88%
3.38%
93.26%
Urban Tele-density@
143.10%
8.37%
151.47%
Rural Tele-density@
59.89%
0.57%
60.46%
Tele-density@ without M2M cellular mobile connections
81.19%
3.38%
84.57%
Segment
Subscription
Broadband Subscribers at the end of
Percentage Change
February 2026
March 2026
Wired subscribers
Fixed Wired Access
46.02
46.51
1.07%
Wireless Subscribers
Fixed Wireless Access
16.51
17.10
3.60%
Mobile Wireless Access
996.52
1002.27
0.58%
Total Broadband Subscriptions
1059.05
1065.88
0.65%
S.No.
Service Provider
Subscriber base
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
523.44
Bharti Airtel Ltd.
368.84
Vodafone Idea Ltd.
128.91
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
27.37
Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.
2.40
Market Share of Top Five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service Providers
98.60%
S.No.
Service Provider
Subscriber base
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
14.23
Bharti Airtel Ltd.
10.71
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd
4.51
Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.
2.40
Kerala Vision Broadband Ltd.
1.48
Market Share of Top Five Fixed (Wired) Access Broadband Service Providers
71.68%
S.No.
Service Provider
Subscriber base
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
509.21
Bharti Airtel Ltd.
358.13
Vodafone Idea Ltd.
128.91
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
22.86
IBus Virtual Network Services Private Limited
0.11
Market Share of Top Five Wireless (Fixed wireless & Mobile) Access Broadband Service providers
99.99%
S. No.
Type of telephone connection
No. of subscribers
Total
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
S. No.
Item
No. of subscribers
1.
No. of Wireless (mobile) connections including M2M cellular mobile connections *
1,265.73
2.
No. of Wireless (mobile) connections excluding M2M cellular mobile connections
1,141.85
Circle
Net additions in the month of March 2026
Telephone Subscriber base at the end of March 2026
Wireline segment
Wireless* segment
Wireline segment
Wireless* 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
Monthly growth rate (%) (February 2026 to March 2026)
Yearly growth rate (%) (March 2025 to March 2026)
Wireline Segment
Wireless* Segment
Wireline Segment
Wireless* 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%
Service Area wise percentage of VLR Subscribers in the month of March 2026
Licensed Service Area Wise MNP Status (in million)
Zone-I
Zone-II
Service Area
Number of Porting Requests in
Service Area
Number of Porting Requests in
February-26
March-26
February-26
March-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 Pradesh
0.06
0.06
Karnataka
0.55
0.55
Jammu & Kashmir
0.07
0.08
Kerala
0.21
0.23
Maharashtra
0.97
0.92
Kolkata
0.18
0.17
Mumbai
0.25
0.25
Madhya Pradesh
1.41
1.40
Punjab
0.38
0.39
North East
0.03
0.04
Rajasthan
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: -
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)
5G-Fixed Wireless Subscribers
TSPs Name ->
Bharti Airtel
Reliance Jio
Grand Total
vTelecom Service Area
Feb-26
Mar-26
Feb-26
Mar-26
Feb-26
Mar-26
Andhra Pradesh
3,20,295
326,398
7,11,614
733,617
10,31,909
1,060,015
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 Pradesh
17,967
19,009
79,259
81,751
97,226
100,760
Jammu & Kashmir
65,573
71,441
1,79,321
184,530
2,44,894
255,971
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 Pradesh
1,63,684
171,363
5,73,333
591,069
7,37,017
762,432
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 Pradesh (East)
2,22,221
239,283
7,03,259
726,334
9,25,480
965,617
Uttar Pradesh (West)
1,65,957
174,395
5,41,636
560,565
7,07,593
734,960
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 Addition
148,514
241,675
390,189
Monthly Growth %
4.14%
2.90%
3.27%
UBR- Fixed Wireless Subscribers
TSPs Name ->
Reliance Jio
vTelecom 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
129,649
TOTAL
40,86,086
4,285,595
Net Addition
199,509
Monthly Growth %
4.88%
(Wireless+
(in million)
(DSL, FTTx, Ethernet/LAN, Cable Modem, ILL)
(5G FWA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Radio/UBR, Satellite)
(Handset/Dongle/M2M-based-3G, 4G, 5G)
(In million)
(In million)
(In million)
(in million)
(in million)
(in million)
Category
the month of
the month of
Wireline)
Percentage of VLR Subscribers for the Top Four Access Service Providers in the month of March 2026
Shri Akhilesh Kumar Trivedi, Advisor (NSL-II),
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Note: 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.
World Trade Centre, Tower-F,
Nauroji Nagar, New Delhi - 110029
Ph: 011-20907758 (Arun Agarwal)
E-mail: advmn@trai.gov.in Pr. Advisor (NSL), TRAI
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
Segment-wise Broadband Subscribers and Monthly Growth Rate in the month of March 2026
Top five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service providers at the end of March 2026
Service Provider-wise Market Share of Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Services at the end of March 2026
Top Five Fixed Wired Access Broadband Service providers at the end of March 2026
Top five Wireless (Fixed wireless & mobile) Access Broadband Service
providers at the end of March 2026
Access Service Provider-wise Market Share of Wireline Subscribers at the end of March 2026
Access Service Provider-wise Net Addition/Decline in Wireline Subscribers during the month of March 2026
Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered.
(A) Wireless (Mobile) subscriber Base
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%.
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) Subscribers
Major 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
(B) Wireless (FWA) Subscriber Base
Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered.
Telephone Subscriber Base at the end of March 2026
* Wireless (mobile) connections Consumer SIM + M2M SIM
Overall Tele-density (LSA Wise) - At the end of March 2026
Notes: -
Circle Category-wise Net Additions in Telephone Subscribers in the Month
of March 2026
Circle Category-wise Monthly and Yearly Growth Rates in
Telephone Subscribers in the Month of March 2026
* 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.
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: -
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
Annexure-VI
Fixed-Wireless (UBR) Subscribers Base
*Only Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has reported the information on the number of UBR FWA subscribers.
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
