India's Telephone Subscriber Base Reaches 1.354 Billion in July

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reported that the national telephone subscriber base grew by 6.2 million in July 2026, reaching a total of 1.354 billion. This 0.46% monthly growth was driven by increases in both wireline and wireless connections, with the wireless market alone adding 55.38 lakh mobile subscribers to reach 128.79 crore.

Bharti Airtel led the wireless growth with 26.88 lakh net additions, followed closely by Reliance Jio with 24.46 lakh new users. Vodafone Idea and the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd also saw increases of 2.40 lakh and 1.68 lakh subscribers, respectively.

Broadband subscriptions expanded to 1.094 billion, a growth of 0.64%. The market remains highly concentrated, with the top five providers controlling 98.59% of the base. Reliance Jio maintains the lead with 535.12 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. 5G Fixed Wireless Access showed significant traction, reaching 13.21 million subscribers.

Overall tele-density reached 94.68%, though a significant gap remains between urban connectivity at 154.12% and rural connectivity at 61.05%. Mobile number portability remained active with 15.98 million requests, the highest of which occurred in Uttar Pradesh (East).