India’s leading telecom service providers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea (Vi), and state-owned operator BSNL recorded gains in wireless subscribers during July 2026, while state-owned operator MTNL reported subscriber losses, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) Telecom Subscription Data at the end of July 2026, released on August 28, 2026. The data show that the total number of wireless (mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased from 1,300.25 million at the end of June 2026 to 1,306.27 million at the end of July 2026, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.46 percent. Likewise, the number of wireless (mobile) subscribers rose from 1,282.38 million to 1,287.92 million during the same period, reflecting a growth rate of 0.43 percent. Wireless tele-density in India increased from 90.96 percent to 91.33 percent. M2M cellular mobile connections have also been included in the wireless subscriber and tele-density calculations.
As of July 2026, Bharti Airtel reported a 5G Fixed Wireless subscriber base of 3,937,986, an addition of 116,951 subscribers, while Reliance Jio reported 9,270,226 5G FWA users, an addition of 155,869 subscribers, bringing the total to 13,208,212 subscribers. The combined 5G FWA base increased by 272,820 subscribers during the month, representing monthly growth of 2.11 percent.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, the only operator reporting UBR FWA subscribers, increased its UBR FWA base from 4,934,005 at the end of June 2026 to 5,138,325 at the end of July 2026, adding 204,320 users, with monthly growth of 4.14 percent.
“The number of total wireless FWA subscribers using UBR technology (UBR FWA) stood at 5.14 million at the end of July 2026,” with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 3.65 million and 1.49 million respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless UBR FWA subscribers were 71.07 percent and 28.93 percent respectively at the end of July 2026.
Gain and Loss of Wireless Subscribers
Bharti Airtel added 2,688,348 wireless (mobile) subscribers during July 2026, while Reliance Jio added 2,446,727 subscribers. Vodafone Idea added 240,114 subscribers during the month. BSNL gained 168,874 wireless (mobile) subscribers, while MTNL lost 5,744 subscribers. Overall, the wireless (mobile) subscriber base increased by 5,538,296 subscribers during the month.
All Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) except Kolkata showed growth in wireless (mobile) subscribers during July 2026.
Wireless Market Share of Operators
As of the end of July 2026, private access service providers held 92.75 percent of the wireless (mobile) market, while BSNL and MTNL together accounted for 7.25 percent.
This translates to Reliance Jio holding approximately a 39.29 percent market share with 506.03 million (506,030,343) wireless subscribers; Bharti Airtel with approximately a 38.01 percent market share and 489.49 million (489,488,305) wireless subscribers; Vodafone Idea with approximately a 15.46 percent market share and 199.06 million (199,063,212) wireless subscribers; BSNL with approximately a 7.23 percent market share and 93.18 million (93,177,868) wireless subscribers; and MTNL with approximately a 0.01 percent market share and 160,733 wireless subscribers.
Wireless (Fixed Wireless and Mobile) Access Broadband Subscribers
As of the end of July 2026, Reliance Jio reported 520.44 million wireless broadband subscribers—the highest number—followed by Bharti Airtel with 372.94 million, Vodafone Idea with 129.95 million, and BSNL with 22.74 million subscribers. The total wireless access broadband subscriber base, comprising fixed wireless and mobile access, stood at 1,046.34 million when M2M cellular mobile connections were included.
Wireline Telephone Subscriber Base
Wireline subscribers increased from 47.82 million at the end of June 2026 to 48.01 million at the end of July 2026. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.19 million, with a monthly growth rate of 0.39 percent. Overall wireline tele-density increased from 3.35 percent to 3.36 percent during the month.
In the wireline segment:
- Reliance Jio held approximately a 32.89 percent market share with 15,791,128 subscribers, adding 165,786 subscribers during the month.
- Bharti Airtel accounted for approximately a 25.32 percent share with 12,153,862 subscribers, adding 163,425 subscribers during the month.
- Vodafone Idea held approximately a 1.58 percent market share with 760,655 subscribers, losing 23,206 subscribers during the month.
- BSNL held approximately a 13.85 percent market share with 6,648,035 subscribers, adding 10,630 subscribers during the month.
M2M Cellular Connections
The number of M2M (Machine-to-Machine) cellular mobile connections increased from 134.73 million at the end of June 2026 to 137.70 million at the end of July 2026.
Bharti Airtel led with 84.45 million M2M connections (61.33 percent market share), followed by Reliance Jio with 26.56 million (19.29 percent), Vodafone Idea with 21.92 million (15.92 percent), and BSNL with 4.77 million (3.46 percent).
Active Wireless Subscribers
Out of the total 1,287.92 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,204.01 million were active on the date of peak VLR in July 2026. The proportion of active wireless (mobile) subscribers was approximately 93.48 percent of the total wireless (mobile) subscriber base.
Bharti Airtel reported a peak VLR of 99.12 percent during the month, BSNL 55.02 percent, Vodafone Idea 83.97 percent, and Reliance Jio 98.82 percent.
Also in TRAI Subscriber Series:
Jun 2026: India Adds Over 5 Million Mobile Users in June 2026: TRAI
May 2026: Airtel Emerges Top Wireless Gainer in May 2026; Jio Crosses 500 Million Mobile Users: TRAI
Apr 2026: Airtel Tops April 2026 Wireless Subscriber Gains, Jio Follows Closely: TRAI Report
Mar 2026: Bharti Airtel Adds Over 5 Million Wireless Subscribers in March 2026: TRAI Data
Feb 2026: Vodafone Idea Gains 21,927 Wireless Subscribers, TRAI February 2026 Data
Jan 2026: Vodafone Idea Starts 2026 with Subscriber Loss: TRAI January 2026 Data
Every article you read here is the result of time, research, and effort. If you feel it adds value, you can support TelecomTalk.
Support Telecomtalk
