Summary:
TRAI data for May 2026 showed continued growth in India’s telecom sector, with Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea adding wireless subscribers, while BSNL and MTNL reported losses. Airtel emerged as the largest gainer, followed by Jio, as the overall wireless subscriber base and tele-density increased. Jio maintained its leadership in wireless, broadband, and 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services, while the country’s M2M connections and wireline subscriber base also recorded growth, reflecting steady expansion in digital connectivity.
Indian telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) expanded their wireless subscriber bases during May 2026, whereas state-run BSNL and MTNL registered declines, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) Telecom Subscription Data released on June 25, 2026. Overall wireless subscribers, including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) users, increased from 1,288.96 million in April to 1,294.46 million in May, representing monthly growth of 0.43%. Mobile-only wireless subscribers also climbed from 1,271.90 million to 1,277.00 million, while wireless tele-density improved from 90.28% to 90.61%. The figures also include Machine-to-Machine (M2M) cellular connections.
5G FWA and UBR Subscriber Growth
India’s 5G FWA subscriber base rose from 12.55 million at the end of April to 12.73 million by the end of May. Urban users accounted for 6.35 million (49.84%), while rural subscribers stood at 6.39 million (50.16%).
Bharti Airtel’s 5G FWA base reached 3,764,262 subscribers after adding 7,773 users during the month. Reliance Jio expanded its 5G FWA subscriber base by 174,817 to 8,968,567, taking the combined industry total to 12,732,829.
Reliance Jio, the only operator reporting Ultra Broadband Radio (UBR) FWA connections, increased its subscriber base from 4,505,055 in April to 4,732,703 in May, adding 227,648 customers.
According to TRAI, UBR FWA subscriptions stood at 4.73 million by the end of May 2026, comprising 3.38 million urban users and 1.36 million rural users. Urban subscribers represented 71.35% of the total UBR FWA base, while rural users accounted for 28.65%.
Monthly Wireless Subscriber Additions
Bharti Airtel emerged as the largest gainer in May, adding 2,926,907 wireless (mobile) subscribers. Reliance Jio followed with 2,154,468 new users, while Vodafone Idea added 121,289 subscribers.
In contrast, BSNL lost 104,660 wireless subscribers and MTNL recorded a decline of 3,803 subscribers. Overall, the wireless (mobile) subscriber base expanded by approximately 5.09 million during the month.
Wireless subscriber growth was recorded across all Licensed Service Areas (LSAs) except Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Mumbai and Haryana.
Wireless Market Position
Private telecom operators collectively accounted for 92.71% of India’s wireless market at the end of May 2026, leaving BSNL and MTNL with a combined share of 7.29%.
Reliance Jio remained the market leader with 501.44 million wireless subscribers, representing a 39.27% share. Bharti Airtel followed with 483.81 million subscribers (37.89%), while Vodafone Idea served 198.66 million users (15.56%). BSNL’s subscriber base stood at 92.91 million (7.28%), while MTNL had 177,761 subscribers, accounting for 0.01% of the market.
Wireless Broadband Subscribers
Reliance Jio also led the wireless broadband segment, reporting 515.14 million subscribers at the end of May 2026. Bharti Airtel followed with 365.13 million users, Vodafone Idea recorded 129.21 million subscribers, and BSNL served 23.02 million wireless broadband customers.
Wireline Subscriber Trends
India’s wireline subscriber base increased modestly from 48.58 million in April to 48.64 million in May, reflecting a net addition of around 60,000 subscribers and monthly growth of 0.12%.
In the wireline market, Reliance Jio held the largest share at 31.83% with 15,481,285 subscribers after adding 101,425 users during May. Bharti Airtel accounted for 24.30% with 11,816,770 subscribers, gaining 53,809 customers.
Vodafone Idea’s wireline subscriber base declined by 13,865 to 846,690, resulting in a 1.74% market share. BSNL also recorded losses, falling by 31,338 subscribers to 7,433,813, representing a 15.28% share.
M2M Cellular Connections
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) cellular connections continued to grow, increasing from 127.48 million in April to 131.11 million in May.
Bharti Airtel remained the leading M2M provider with 80.83 million connections and a market share of 61.65%. Reliance Jio followed with 25.10 million connections (19.14%), Vodafone Idea had 21.00 million (16.02%), and BSNL accounted for 4.18 million connections (3.19%).
Active Mobile Subscribers
Of the total 1,277.00 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,195.74 million were active during the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) period in May 2026, representing 93.64% of the overall subscriber base.
Peak VLR percentages stood at 99.28% for Bharti Airtel, 98.83% for Reliance Jio, 84.41% for Vodafone Idea, 55.85% for BSNL, and 151.85% for MTNL during the month.
