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Highlights
- Jio and Airtel led subscriber additions in April 2026.
- India's 5G subscriber base reached around 434 million.
- Broadband penetration increased to 79.6 percent.
Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Varun Kashyap & Sridevi Reddy
Co-Founders, Zithara.ai
Transforming Indian Offline Retail and Customer Engagement Using AI
India’s telecom sector continues to witness growth in subscriber additions, active users, broadband penetration, and 5G adoption, according to the latest telecom credit digest published by India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra). The agency said subscriber growth remains concentrated among leading private telecom operators, while rising data consumption and 5G adoption continue to support data-led monetisation opportunities.
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Key Highlights
- India's total telecom subscriber base reached 1.337 billion in April 2026, including 1.289 billion wireless subscribers.
- Reliance Jio added 3.4 million subscribers and Bharti Airtel added 3.2 million subscribers during April 2026.
- India's 5G subscriber base reached around 434 million, with penetration touching 40.3 percent.
- Broadband penetration increased to 79.6 percent, reflecting continued growth in data adoption.
- Average monthly data consumption has risen to between 20GB and 66GB per user, according to Ind-Ra.
- Ind-Ra expects subscriber growth to remain concentrated among leading private telecom operators.
Airtel and Jio Lead Subscriber Growth
According to Ind-Ra, India’s total telecom subscriber base reached 1.337 billion in April 2026, including 1.289 billion wireless subscribers. Wireless services accounted for more than 96 percent of the overall subscriber base. Reliance Jio added 3.4 million subscribers during April 2026, while Bharti Airtel added 3.2 million subscribers. Vodafone Idea (Vi) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) reported negligible growth during the period.
Also Read: TRAI Data Shows Jio Losing Ground to Airtel in Delhi and Mumbai’s Subscriber Race
Ind-Ra said incremental subscriber growth is expected to remain concentrated among leading private telecom operators, supported by network quality and execution capabilities.
Active Subscriber Base Improves
The agency highlighted an improvement in subscriber engagement, with the visitor location register (VLR) ratio increasing to 93.8 percent in April 2026 from 92.6 percent a year earlier.
The active subscriber base increased by 7.9 million month-on-month to 1.194 billion subscribers. Bharti Airtel added 5.4 million active subscribers, while Reliance Jio added 3 million active users. BSNL recorded a decline of 0.9 million active subscribers, while Vi witnessed a marginal dip after a brief recovery in March 2026.
