Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel emerged as the biggest winners in India’s telecom subscriber market in September 2026, adding millions of mobile customers, while Vodafone Idea recorded slower growth and BSNL maintained its position as the fourth-largest mobile operator.
According to the latest telecom subscription data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India’s total telephone subscriber base increased by 7.23 million to 1.36793 billion in September 2026, compared with 1.36070 billion in August.
The overall telecom market registered monthly growth of 0.53 percent, supported by expanding mobile subscriptions, broadband adoption and fixed wireless access services.
India’s wireless subscriber base, including mobile and fixed wireless access connections, increased by 6.94 million to 1.31919 billion, representing monthly growth of 0.53 percent.
The mobile subscriber base, including machine-to-machine (M2M) connections but excluding FWA, increased by 6.57 million to 1.30 billion.
The figures indicate that Reliance Jio and Airtel continue to dominate customer acquisition, while Vodafone Idea faces challenges in narrowing the subscriber gap with its larger competitors.
Reliance Jio vs Airtel vs Vodafone Idea vs BSNL: Subscriber Growth
Reliance Jio recorded the highest net addition of mobile subscribers in September 2026, narrowly outperforming Bharti Airtel.
Airtel remained the second-largest mobile operator, while Vodafone Idea registered the slowest percentage growth among the four major operators.
Reliance Jio accounted for approximately 41 percent of the industry’s net mobile subscriber additions during September.
Bharti Airtel contributed another 41 percent, meaning the two largest operators together captured approximately 82 percent of net additions.
BSNL added approximately 625,000 mobile subscribers, while Vodafone Idea gained approximately 510,000.
The subscriber additions indicate that Jio and Airtel are maintaining their leadership in customer acquisition despite the presence of four major nationwide mobile operators.
Telecom Market Share: Reliance Jio Leads, Airtel Narrows the Gap
Reliance Jio maintained its leadership with a mobile subscriber market share of approximately 39.32 percent at the end of September 2026.
Bharti Airtel followed with 38.02 percent, leaving a gap of approximately 1.30 percentage points between the two largest operators.
Vodafone Idea held approximately 16.93 percent, while BSNL accounted for 7.26 percent.
The two largest private operators controlled approximately 77.34 percent of India’s mobile connections.
Private telecom operators collectively held 92.74 percent of the mobile market, while public-sector operators BSNL and MTNL accounted for the remaining 7.26 percent.
The figures highlight the concentration of India’s mobile market, with Reliance Jio and Airtel controlling more than three-quarters of connections.
Winners and Losers in India’s Telecom Market
Reliance Jio: Biggest subscriber acquisition winner
Reliance Jio added 2.71 million mobile subscribers in September, taking its customer base to 511.14 million.
Its monthly subscriber growth rate was approximately 0.53 percent.
Jio maintained its leadership in mobile connections with a market share of 39.32 percent.
Bharti Airtel: Strong challenger with highest active subscriber ratio
Bharti Airtel added 2.69 million mobile subscribers, increasing its base to 494.29 million.
Airtel’s monthly subscriber growth rate was approximately 0.55 percent, marginally higher than Jio’s.
Airtel also recorded the industry’s highest active subscriber ratio of 98.94 percent, highlighting its strong position in active mobile connections.
BSNL: Fastest percentage growth among major operators
BSNL added 625,633 mobile subscribers, taking its subscriber base to 94.30 million.
Its monthly growth rate of approximately 0.67 percent was the highest among the four major operators.
Although BSNL remains significantly smaller than its private-sector competitors, its subscriber growth exceeded Vodafone Idea’s in absolute and percentage terms.
Vodafone Idea: Slowest growth among major operators
Vodafone Idea added 550,119 mobile subscribers in September, increasing its base to 200.12 million.
Its monthly growth rate was approximately 0.28 percent, the lowest among the four major operators.
Vodafone Idea’s mobile subscriber market share stood at approximately 15.39 percent, significantly below Jio and Airtel.
The operator recorded positive net additions, but its slower growth meant that it continued to lose relative ground to its larger competitors.
Broadband Market: Jio Leads With 541 Million Subscribers
Reliance Jio also maintained its leadership in India’s broadband market, which includes fixed wired and wireless broadband services.
India’s broadband subscriber base increased from 1.10121 billion in August to 1.10768 billion in September, representing monthly growth of 0.59 percent.
| Broadband operator | Subscribers | Market share |
| Reliance Jio | 541.17 million | 48.86 percent |
| Bharti Airtel | 388.86 million | 35.11 percent |
| Vodafone Idea | 131.00 million | 11.83 percent |
| BSNL | 28.55 million | 2.58 percent |
| ACT Fibernet | 2.50 million | 0.23 percent |
Jio and Airtel collectively controlled approximately 84 percent of India’s broadband subscriptions.
The five largest broadband operators accounted for 98.59 percent of the market.
In fixed wired broadband, Jio led with 14.92 million subscribers, followed by Airtel with 11.55 million and BSNL with 4.59 million.
ACT Fibernet had 2.50 million subscribers, while Kerala Vision Broadband had 1.57 million.
Airtel Dominates M2M Market With 61.16 Percent Share
Bharti Airtel maintained a substantial lead in India’s machine-to-machine connectivity market.
India’s M2M cellular connections increased from 140.50 million in August to 144.85 million in September, representing an increase of 4.35 million.
Airtel led with 88.58 million M2M connections and a market share of 61.16 percent.
Reliance Jio ranked second with 27.94 million connections and a market share of 19.29 percent.
Vodafone Idea held 16.14 percent, while BSNL accounted for 3.41 percent.
Airtel’s dominance in M2M connectivity highlights its strong position in enterprise IoT applications, connected devices and industrial communications.
5G Fixed Wireless Access Subscribers Reach 13.61 Million
India’s 5G fixed wireless access subscriber base increased from 13.45 million in August to 13.61 million in September.
Rural areas accounted for 7.06 million 5G FWA subscriptions, representing 51.89 percent of the market.
Urban areas accounted for 6.54 million connections, representing 48.11 percent.
The higher rural share indicates that 5G FWA is becoming an important broadband access technology outside India’s major cities.
The overall fixed wireless broadband segment, including 5G FWA and other technologies, increased from 19.34 million to 19.70 million subscribers, registering monthly growth of 1.84 percent.
Mobile Number Portability Requests Rise to 16.77 Million
India recorded 16.77 million mobile number portability requests in September, compared with 15.83 million in August.
The increase of approximately 939,000 requests indicates continued interest among mobile customers in changing operators while retaining their existing numbers.
Uttar Pradesh East recorded the highest number of portability requests at 2.49 million.
Uttar Pradesh West followed with 1.68 million requests, while Madhya Pradesh recorded 1.59 million.
Bihar accounted for 1.53 million requests.
However, portability requests do not directly indicate successful customer transfers or identify which operators gained or lost customers.
Urban Markets Drive India’s Telecom Subscriber Growth
India’s urban telephone subscriber base increased by 5.50 million to 807.78 million in September.
Rural telephone subscriptions increased by 1.73 million to 560.16 million.
Urban markets accounted for approximately 76 percent of total net telephone subscriber additions during the month.
Overall tele-density increased from 95.07 percent in August to 95.52 percent in September.
Urban tele-density reached 155.85 percent, compared with rural tele-density of 61.30 percent.
The substantial difference indicates that rural India continues to offer opportunities for telecom operators to expand connectivity.
Key Takeaways: Jio and Airtel Win Subscriber Race, Vodafone Idea Falls Behind
September 2026 telecom subscription data highlights four developments in India’s telecom market.
Reliance Jio remained the largest mobile and broadband operator, adding the highest number of mobile subscribers.
Bharti Airtel nearly matched Jio’s mobile subscriber additions, recorded the highest active subscriber ratio and maintained leadership in M2M connectivity.
BSNL achieved the highest monthly percentage growth among major mobile operators, outperforming Vodafone Idea in subscriber additions.
Vodafone Idea remained the weakest performer in subscriber growth among the four major operators, despite recording positive net additions.
With Jio and Airtel capturing approximately 82 percent of net mobile subscriber additions, India’s telecom market continues to become increasingly concentrated around its two largest operators.
SHAFANA FAZAL