Indian telecom service providers Bharti Airtel, BSNL and Reliance Jio gained wireless subscribers in January 2026, while Vodafone Idea (Vi) saw subscriber losses, according to TRAI‘s Telecom Subscription Data as of January 31, 2026, released on March 19, 2026. The data show that the total number of wireless (mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased from 1,258.77 million at the end of December 2025 to 1,266.34 million at the end of January 2026, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.60 percent. Likewise, the number of wireless (mobile) subscribers rose from 1,244.20 million to 1,250.89 million during the same period, reflecting a growth rate of 0.54 percent. Wireless tele-density in India increased from 88.41 percent to 88.87 percent. (M2M cellular mobile connections have also been included.)
Total wireless 5G FWA subscribers increased from 10.99 million at the end of December 2025 to 11.53 million at the end of January 2026, with 5.83 million (50.55 percent) in urban areas and 5.70 million (49.45 percent) in rural areas.
As of January 2026, Bharti Airtel reported a 5G FWA subscriber base of 3,359,437 (an addition of 287,621), while Reliance Jio reported 8,167,604 (an addition of 245,716) 5G FWA users, bringing the total to 11,527,041.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, the only operator reporting UBR FWA subscribers, increased its UBR FWA base from 3,579,406 at the end of December to 3,919,220 at the end of January, adding 339,814 users and registering a monthly growth of 9.49 percent.
Gain and Loss of Wireless Subscribers
Bharti Airtel added 4,406,661 (4.41 million) wireless (mobile) subscribers, and Reliance Jio added 2,437,550 (2.44 million) subscribers during the month. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea lost 411,337 (0.41 million) wireless (mobile) subscribers. BSNL added 271,486 subscribers, while MTNL lost 6,562 subscribers during January 2026.
Except Kolkata, all Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) showed growth in wireless (mobile) subscribers during January 2026.
Wireless Market Share of Operators
As of January 31, 2026, private access service providers held 92.54 percent of the wireless (mobile) market, while BSNL and MTNL accounted for 7.46 percent.
This translates to Reliance Jio holding a 39.29 percent market share with 491.49 million wireless subscribers; Bharti Airtel with a 37.40 percent market share and 467.79 million wireless subscribers; Vodafone Idea with a 15.86 percent market share and 198.36 million wireless subscribers; BSNL with a 7.44 percent market share and 93.03 million wireless subscribers; and MTNL with a 0.02 percent market share and 0.23 million wireless subscribers.
Wireless (Fixed wireless and Mobile) Access Broadband Subscribers
As of January 31, 2026, Reliance Jio reported 503.57 million wireless broadband subscribers—the highest number—followed by Bharti Airtel with 348.91 million, Vodafone Idea with 128.97 million, and BSNL with 25.17 million subscribers.
Wireline Telephone Subscriber Base
Wireline subscribers increased from 47.37 million at the end of December 2025 to 47.66 million at the end of January 2026. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.29 million, with continued growth in the segment.
In the wireline segment:
Reliance Jio held a 31.32 percent market share with 14,931,095 subscribers, adding 179,166 subscribers during the month.
Bharti Airtel accounted for a 23.43 percent share with 11,165,055 subscribers, adding 209,890 subscribers.
Vodafone Idea held a 1.71 percent market share with 815,071 subscribers, losing 122 subscribers.
Meanwhile, BSNL held a 15.65 percent market share with 7,459,040 subscribers, losing 28,098 subscribers during January 2026.
M2M Cellular Connections
The number of M2M (Machine-to-Machine) cellular mobile connections increased from 109.19 million at the end of December 2025 to 113.46 million at the end of January 2026.
Bharti Airtel led with 70.17 million M2M connections (61.85 percent market share), followed by Reliance Jio with 20.60 million (18.15 percent), Vodafone Idea with 18.8 million (16.58 percent), and BSNL with 3.88 million (3.42 percent).
Active Wireless Subscribers
Out of the total 1,250.89 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,172.10 million were active on the date of peak VLR in January 2026. The proportion of active wireless (mobile) subscribers was approximately 93.70 percent of the total wireless (mobile) subscriber base. Bharti Airtel reported a peak VLR of 99.64 percent during the month, BSNL 57.46 percent, Vodafone Idea 85.28 percent, MTNL 144.87 percent, and Reliance Jio 98.29 percent.
Market Sentiment Today:
At the time of filing this story, the market sentiment is as follows:
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