Indian telecom service providers Bharti Airtel (Airtel), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and Reliance Jio gained wireless subscribers in August 2025, while Vodafone Idea (Vi) and state-run telco MTNL lost wireless subscribers during the month, according to TRAI's Telecom Subscription Data as of August 31, 2025. The data shows that the total wireless (mobile) subscribers increased from 1163.51 million at the end of July 2025 to 1167.03 million at the end of August 2025 thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.30 percent. Likewise, the total wireless (mobile + fixed wireless access) subscribers increased from 1171.91 million at the end of July 2025 to 1178.03 million at the end of August 2025, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.52 percent.
Also Read: Airtel, Jio Add Wireless Subscribers in July 2025, While Vodafone Idea and BSNL Lose
FWA Subscribers — 5G and UBR Breakdown
Starting August 2025, TRAI began reporting 5G and UBR-based Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) data separately.
"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," TRAI stated in its subscription data report released on Monday, October 6, 2025.
The telecom subscription data comes as the Supreme Court defers the Vodafone Idea's AGR dues hearing to October 13, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested the apex court to postpone the matter until next week.
Total wireless (5G FWA) subscribers increased from 8.40 million at the end of July 2025 to 8.90 million at the end of August 2025 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 5.27 million and 3.63 million, respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (5G FWA) subscribers in total wireless (5G FWA) subscribers were 59.21 percent and 40.79 percent, respectively, at the end of August 2025.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited began reporting the number of UBR FWA subscribers from August 2025, according to the report. UBR FWA subscriptions stood at 2.1 million at the end of August 2025, with 1.51 million urban and 0.59 million rural subscribers. Urban and rural shares of total UBR FWA subscribers were 71.90 percent and 28.10 percent, respectively, as of August 2025.
As of August 2025, Bharti Airtel reported a 5G FWA subscriber base of 2,138,570 (an addition of 185,287), while Reliance Jio reported 6,761,291 (an addition of 315,362) 5G FWA users, bringing the total to 8,899,861. Rural FWA subscriber numbers for Jio are no longer listed in the table, as they were in previous reports.
Gain and Loss of Wireless Subscribers
Bharti Airtel added 496,087 (0.49 million) wireless subscribers, BSNL added 1,385,233 (1.38 million) subscribers (possibly due to the Re 1 4G SIM offer), and Reliance Jio added 1,949,163 (1.94 million) subscribers. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea lost 308,984 (0.30 million) wireless subscribers during the same period, and public sector unit (PSU) MTNL lost 2,051 subscribers.
Wireless Market Share of Operators
As of August 31, 2025, private access service providers held a 92.11 percent market share of total wireless (mobile) subscribers, while BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, together held a 7.89 percent share.
This translates to Reliance Jio holding a 41.08 percent market share with 479.5 million wireless subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 33.59 percent market share and 392 million wireless subscribers, Vodafone Idea with 17.44 percent market share and 203.55 million wireless subscribers, BSNL with 7.86 percent market share and 91.75 million wireless subscribers, and MTNL with a 0.03 percent market share and 0.30 million wireless subscribers.
Also Read: Airtel, Jio Add Wireless Subscribers in June 2025, While Vodafone Idea and BSNL Lose
Wireless Broadband Subscribers
Reliance Jio reported 488.31 million wireless broadband (fixed wireless and mobile) subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 299.54 million, Vodafone Idea with 127.47 million, and BSNL with 29.93 million subscribers.
Wired Market Share
Wireline subscribers decreased from 48.11 million at the end of July 2025 to 46.51 million at the end of August 2025. The net decrease in the wireline subscriber base was 1.61 million, corresponding to a monthly growth rate of -3.34 percent.
In the wireline segment:
- Reliance Jio held a 30.00 percent market share with 13,951,135 subscribers, losing 1,550,891 during the month.
- Bharti Airtel held a 22.72 percent share with 10,564,707 subscribers, adding 108,084 during the month.
- Vodafone Idea held a 1.67 percent share with 777,857 subscribers, adding 24,215 during the month.
- BSNL held a 16.18 percent share with 7,526,551 subscribers, losing 5,647 during the month.
M2M Cellular Connections
According to the report, the number of M2M (Machine-to-Machine) cellular mobile connections increased from 84.62 million at the end of July 2025 to 89.70 million at the end of August 2025.
- Bharti Airtel: 52.61 million connections (58.66 percent market share)
- Vodafone Idea: 17.40 million connections (19.40 percent market share)
- Reliance Jio: 16.09 million connections (17.94 percent market share)
- BSNL: 3.59 million connections (4.01 percent market share)
Also Read: Airtel, Jio Add Wireless Subscribers in May 2025, While Vodafone Idea and BSNL Lose
Active Wireless Subscribers
Out of the total 1,167.03 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,086.18 million were active on the date of peak VLR (Visitor Location Register) in August 2025. The proportion of active wireless (mobile) subscribers was approximately 93.07 percent of the total, according to TRAI. Airtel reported a peak VLR of 99.52 percent during the month, BSNL 60.38 percent, Vodafone Idea (Vi) 84.26 percent, MTNL 124.41 percent, and Reliance Jio 97.78 percent. Active wireless subscribers are based on VLR data.
