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Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st December 2025

Particulars	Wireless*	Wireline	Total (Wireless+ Wireline)
Broadband Subscribers (Million)	962.07	45.29	1007.35
Urban Telephone Subscribers (Million)	720.15	42.29	762.44
Net Addition in December 2025 (Million)	6.86	0.34	7.20
Monthly Growth Rate	0.96%	0.82%	0.95%
Rural Telephone Subscribers (Million)	538.62	5.08	543.70
Net Addition in December 2025 (Million)	1.35	-0.03	1.33
Monthly Growth Rate	0.25%	-0.49%	0.25%
Total Telephone Subscribers (Million)	1258.77	47.37	1306.14
Net Addition in December 2025 (Million)	8.21	0.32	8.53
Monthly Growth Rate	0.66%	0.68%	0.66%
Share of Urban Subscribers	57.21%	89.27%	58.37%
Share of Rural Subscribers	42.79%	10.73%	41.63%
Overall Tele-density@ with M2M cellular mobile connections	88.41%	3.33%	91.74%
Urban Tele-density@	140.66%	8.26%	148.92%
Rural Tele-density@	59.07%	0.56%	59.63%
Tele-density@ without M2M cellular mobile connections	80.74%	3.33%	84.01%

• In the month of December 2025, 16.12 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP).                                                           
• The number of active wireless (mobile) subscribers (on the date of peak VLR^#) in December 2025 was 1162.97 million.

Note:

^*  The wireless subscriber base comprises of wireless mobile telephone subscribers (including M2M cellular mobile connections), and FWA subscribers.

* Till the month of November 2025, M/s Bharti Airtel Limited did not include its M2M cellular subscriber base in its report on the wireless (mobile) subscriber base while the remaining operators were including their M2M cellular subscriber bases in their reports on the wireless (mobile) subscriber base. From the month of December 2025, M/s Bharti Airtel Limited has also started including its M2M cellular subscriber base in its report on the wireless (mobile) subscriber base. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the wireless (mobile) subscriber base in the month of December 2025.

@ In the reports published till the previous month, overall tele-density was computed by including M2M cellular mobile connections in the telephone subscriber base.

@ Tele-density has been computed on the basis of the projection of population from the ‘Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011 – 2036’, published in July 2020.

# VLR is acronym of Visitor Location Register. The dates of peak VLR for various Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) may be different in different service areas.

• Information in this Press Release is based on the data provided by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to TRAI.

Broadband Subscribers

• As per the information received from 1479 operators for the month of December 2025, the total number of broadband subscribers increased from 1003.65 million at the end of November 2025 to 1007.35 million at the end of December 2025 with a monthly growth rate of 0.37%. Segment-wise number of broadband subscribers and their monthly growth rates are as below: -                                                              

Segment–wise Broadband Subscribers and Monthly Growth Rate in the month of December 2025

Segment	Subscription	Broadband Subscribers (in million)		Percentage Change
		November 2025	December 2025
Wired subscribers	Fixed Wired Access (DSL, FTTx, Ethernet/LAN, Cable Modem, ILL)	45.11	45.29	0.39%
Wireless Subscribers	Fixed Wireless Access (5G FWA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Radio/UBR, Satellite)	14.06	14.77	5.04%
	Mobile Wireless Access (Handset/Dongle-based-3G, 4G, 5G)	944.48	947.30	0.30%
Total Broadband Subscribers		1003.65	1007.35	0.37%

 

Top five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service providers as on 31^st December 2025

S.N.	Service Provider	Subscriber base (In million)
	Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.	514.35
	Bharti Airtel Ltd.*	314.26
	Vodafone Idea Ltd.	128.47
	Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.	33.03
	Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.	2.37
Market Share of Top Five Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Service Providers		98.52%

(*) The report is prepared based on the last available internet subscription data (November 2025) submitted by M/s Bharti Airtel Ltd., as the internet subscription data for December 2025 was not submitted by the licensee, as prescribed.

• The graphical representation of the service provider-wise market share of broadband services is given below: -

Service Provider-wise Market Share of Broadband (Wired & Wireless) Services as on 31^st December 2025

Top Five Fixed Wired Access Broadband Service providers as on 31^st December 2025

 

Top five Wireless (Fixed wireless & mobile) Access Broadband Service providers as on 31^st December 2025

1. Wireline Telephone Subscriber Base

• The number of wireline subscribers increased from 47.05 million at the end of November 2025 to 47.37 million at the end of December 2025. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.32 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.68%.       
• The overall wireline tele-density in India increased from 3.31% at the end of November 2025 to 3.33% at the end of December 2025. Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 8.26% and 0.56% respectively, as on 31^st December 2025.  The respective share of urban subscribers, and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 89.27% and 10.73% respectively at the end of December 2025.     
• PSU access service providers viz. BSNL, MTNL, and APSFL together held 19.70% of the wireline market share as on 31^st December 2025. Detailed statistics of the wireline subscriber base are available at Annexure-I. 

Access Service Provider-wise Market Share of Wireline Subscribers as on 31^st December 2025

• The net addition/ decline in the wireline subscriber base of various access service providers in the month of December 2025 is given below:

Access Service Provider-wise Net Addition/Decline in Wireline Subscribers during the month of December 2025

2. Wireless Telephone (Mobile + FWA) Subscriber Base

•  The number of wireless (mobile + Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased from 1250.56 million at the end of November 2025 to 1258.77 million at the end of December 2025, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.66%. Total wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 713.29 million on 30^th November 2025  to 720.15 million on  31^st December 2025. The subscription in rural areas also increased from 537.26 million to 538.62 million during the same period. The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions was 0.96% and 0.25%, respectively. 

•  The wireless tele-density in India increased from 87.90% at the end of November 2025 to 88.41% at the end of December 2025. The urban wireless tele-density increased from 139.53% at the end of November 2025 to 140.66% at the end of December 2025. The rural wireless tele-density increased from 58.94% to 59.07% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in the total number of wireless subscribers was 57.21% and 42.79%, respectively, at the end of December 2025.

Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered.

•  The details of wireless (mobile) subscribers and wireless (FWA) subscribers are given below:

(A) Wireless (mobile) subscriber Base

• The number of wireless (mobile) subscribers increased from 1236.96 million at the end of November 2025 to 1244.20 million at the end of December 2025 thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.59%. Wireless (mobile) subscription in urban areas increased from 704.90 million at the end of November 2025 to 712.03 million at the end of December 2025 and wireless (mobile) subscription in rural areas also increased from 532.06 million to 532.17 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscription were 1.01% and 0.02% respectively.

​​​​​​​

•  The wireless (mobile) tele-density in India increased from 86.94% at the end of November 2025 to 87.38% at the end of December 2025. The urban wireless (mobile) tele-density increased from 137.88% at the end of November 2025 to 139.08% at the end of December 2025 and rural wireless (mobile) tele-density decreased from 58.37% to 58.36% during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless (mobile) subscribers in the total number of wireless (mobile) subscribers were 57.23% and 42.77% respectively, at the end of December 2025. The detailed statistics of wireless (mobile) subscriber base is available at Annexure-II.

Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered.

• As on 31^st December 2025, the private access service providers held 92.53% of the market share in terms of wireless (mobile) subscribers, whereas PSU access service providers viz. BSNL and MTNL together held a market share of 7.47%.                               

• The graphical representation of access service provider-wise market share and net additions in wireless (mobile) subscriber base are given below: -

Access Service Provider-wise Market Shares in term of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers as on 31^st December 2025

Net Addition/ Decline in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers of Access Service Providers in the month of December 2025

 

 

Growth in Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers

Major Access Service Provider-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline Rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of December 2025

   

    Licensed Service Area (LSA)-wise Monthly Growth/ Decline rate of Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers in the month of December 2025

• Except West Bengal and UP (west), all other LSA have shown growth in their wireless (Mobile) subscribers during the month of December 2025.        

 (B) Wireless (FWA) subscriber Base

• At present, fixed wireless access (FWA) based services are being provided under two categories viz.

1. 5G FWA i.e. FWA using 5G radio access technology; and
2. UBR FWA i.e. FWA using Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR) technology.

• The number of wireless (5G FWA) subscribers increased from 10.41 million at the end of November 2025 to 10.99 million at the end of December 2025 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas as 5.58 million and 5.41 million respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (5G FWA) subscribers in total wireless (5G FWA) subscribers were 50.78% and 49.22% respectively, at the end of December 2025.
• LSA wise information on the wireless (5G FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-V.
• UBR FWA subscription stood at 3.58 million at the end of December 2025 with subscriptions in urban and rural areas of 2.54 million and 1.03 million respectively. The shares of urban and rural wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers in total wireless (UBR FWA) subscribers were 71.09% and 28.91% respectively, at the end of December 2025.

LSA wise information on the wireless (UBR FWA) subscriber base is available at Annexure-VI.                                                

3. M2M cellular mobile connections

     The Number of M2M cellular mobile connections increased from 103.48 million at the end of November 2025 to 109.19 million at the end of December 2025.

Bharti Airtel Limited has the highest number of M2M cellular mobile connections of 66.95 million with a market share of 61.31%, followed by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Vodafone Idea Limited and BSNL with market share of 18.06%, 16.99% and 3.64% respectively.

4.  Total Telephone Subscriber Base

​​​​​​​

• The number of total telephone subscribers in India increased from 1297.61 million at the end of November 2025 to 1306.14 million at the end of December 2025, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.66%. Urban telephone subscription increased from 755.24 million at the end of November 2025 to 762.44 million at the end of December 2025 and the rural telephone subscription also increased from 542.37 million to 543.70 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.95% and 0.25% respectively during the month of December 2025.

​​​​​​​

• The overall tele-density in India increased from 91.20% at the end of November 2025 to 91.74% at the end of December 2025. The urban tele-density increased from 147.43% at the end of November 2025 to 148.92% at the end of December 2025 and rural tele-density also increased from 59.50% to 59.63% during the same period. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of December 2025 were 58.37% and 41.63% respectively.

Note: In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered.

Overall Tele-density (LSA Wise) – As on 31^st December 2025

• As may be seen in the above chart, nine LSAs have less tele-density than the all-India average tele-density at the end of December 2025. Delhi LSA has the maximum tele-density of 359.50% and the Bihar LSA has the minimum tele-density of 61.88% at the end of December 2025.                                                 
• Notes: -

1. Population data/projections are available state wise only.
2. Tele-density figures are derived from the telephone subscriber data provided by the access service providers and the projection of population from the “Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011 – 2036.
3. Telephone subscriber data for Delhi, includes, apart from the data for the State of Delhi, wireless subscriber data for the areas served by the local exchanges of Ghaziabad & Noida (in Uttar Pradesh) and Gurgaon & Faridabad (in Haryana).
4. Data/information for West Bengal includes Kolkata, Maharashtra includes Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh includes UPE & UPW service areas.
5. Data/information for Andhra Pradesh includes Telengana, Madhya Pradesh includes Chhatishgarh, Bihar includes Jharkhand, Maharashtra includes Goa, Uttar Pradesh includes Uttarakhand, West Bengal includes Sikkim and North-East includes Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland & Tripura States.
6. In the calculation of Tele-density figures, M2M cellular mobile connections have also been considered.

 

5. Category-wise Growth in subscriber base

Circle Category-wise Net Additions in Telephone Subscribers in the Month

of December 2025

Circle Category-wise Monthly and Yearly Growth Rates in

Telephone Subscribers in the Month of December 2025

 

* The wireless subscriber base comprises of wireless mobile telephone subscribers (including M2M cellular mobile connections), and FWA subscribers.

Note: Circle Category-Metro includes Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

• As can be seen in the above tables, in the wireless segment, during the month of December 2025, on a monthly basis, all circles have registered a growth in their subscriber bases. On a yearly basis also, all the circles have registered a growth in their wireless subscriber bases.
•  In the wireline segment, during the month of December 2025 on a monthly basis, all circles have registered a growth in their subscribers. On a yearly basis also, all circles have registered a growth in their wireline subscriber bases.

 

Annexure IV

VLR Subscribers in the Wireless Segment

Home Location Register (HLR) is a central database that contains details of each mobile phone subscriber that is authorized to use the GSM core network. The HLRs store details of every SIM card issued by the service provider. Each SIM has a unique identifier called an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), which is the primary key to each HLR record. The HLR data is stored for as long as a subscriber remains with the service provider. HLR also manages the mobility of subscribers by means of updating their position in administrative areas. It sends the subscriber data to a Visitor Location Register (VLR).

Subscriber numbers reported by the service providers is the difference between the numbers of IMSI registered in service provider’s HLR and sum of other figures as given below: -

Visitor Location Register (VLR) is a temporary database of the subscribers who have roamed into the particular area, which it serves. Each base station in the network is served by exactly one VLR; hence a subscriber cannot be present in more than one VLR at a time.

If subscriber is in active stage i.e. he is able to send/receive calls/SMSs he is available both in HLR and VLR. However, it may be possible that the subscriber is registered in HLR but not in VLR due to the reason that he is either switched-off or moved out of coverage area, not reachable etc. In such circumstances he will be available in HLR but not in VLR. This causes difference between subscriber number reported by the service providers based on HLR and numbers available in VLR.

The VLR subscriber data calculated here is based on active subscribers in VLR on the date of Peak subscriber number in VLR of the particular month for which the data is being collected. This data is to be taken from the switches having the purge time of not more than 72 hours.

Fixed-Wireless (5G) Subscribers Base

Annexure-V

5G-Fixed Wireless Subscribers
TSPs Name →	Bharti Airtel		Reliance Jio		Grand Total
↓Telecom Service Area	Nov-25	Dec-25	Nov-25	Dec-25	Nov-25	Dec-25
Andhra Pradesh	257,548	283,374	649,908	675,280	907,456	958,654
Assam	53,944	62,416	178,168	187,285	232,112	249,701
Bihar	123,880	144,522	621,699	650,469	745,579	794,991
Delhi	137,554	149,660	229,289	228,262	366,843	377,922
Gujarat	155,969	172,601	422,040	431,728	578,009	604,329
Haryana	74,090	80,353	216,664	222,578	290,754	302,931
Himachal Pradesh	13,104	14,884	72,734	75,076	85,838	89,960
Jammu & Kashmir	46,975	54,000	167,716	173,291	214,691	227,291
Karnataka	242,390	265,061	393,430	404,253	635,820	669,314
Kerala	52,925	58,412	167,426	177,190	220,351	235,602
Kolkata	80,459	86,228	159,893	160,300	240,352	246,528
Madhya Pradesh	119,531	135,682	518,163	539,118	637,694	674,800
Maharashtra	238,637	263,445	590,209	605,285	828,846	868,730
Mumbai	92,678	99,997	102,937	105,315	195,615	205,312
North East	29,534	33,584	82,420	85,273	111,954	118,857
Odisha	62,951	69,910	273,291	287,887	336,242	357,797
Punjab	128,737	143,221	466,746	480,085	595,483	623,306
Rajasthan	163,034	180,671	432,040	449,508	595,074	630,179
Tamil Nadu	336,051	371,118	355,938	369,097	691,989	740,215
Uttar Pradesh (East)	157,801	179,662	638,577	663,985	796,378	843,647
Uttar Pradesh (West)	124,512	139,478	494,597	512,846	619,109	652,324
West Bengal	73,579	83,537	412,257	437,777	485,836	521,314
TOTAL	2,765,883	3,071,816	7,646,142	7,921,888	10,412,025	10,993,704
Net Addition		305,933		275,746		581,679
Monthly Growth %		11.06%		3.61%		5.59%

Annexure-VI

Fixed-Wireless (UBR) Subscribers Base

UBR- Fixed Wireless Subscribers
TSPs Name →	Reliance Jio
↓Telecom Service Area	Nov-25	Dec-25
Andhra Pradesh	253,677	288,198
Assam	26,064	29,231
Bihar	214,052	241,585
Delhi	218,156	246,562
Gujarat	221,105	246,568
Haryana	145,809	161,976
Himachal Pradesh	8,012	9,280
Jammu & Kashmir	61,571	68,781
Karnataka	191,937	217,951
Kerala	8,290	8,914
Kolkata	136,949	156,494
Madhya Pradesh	183,781	208,332
Maharashtra	263,210	296,166
Mumbai	47,006	51,717
North East	11,158	12,357
Odisha	41,164	46,465
Punjab	192,084	212,875
Rajasthan	227,735	254,119
Tamil Nadu	138,298	153,714
Uttar Pradesh (East)	221,955	247,390
Uttar Pradesh (West)	277,550	311,756
West Bengal	97,700	108,975
TOTAL	3,187,263	3,579,406
Net Addition		392,143
Monthly Growth %		12.30%

 

^{*Only Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited has reported the information on the number of UBR FWA subscribers.}

^****

^MI/ARJ