India’s telecom sector continued to see steady subscriber growth in May, with Bharti Airtel emerging as the largest net gainer, Vodafone Idea extending its recovery for the 3rd consecutive month, and Reliance Jio maintaining its position as the country’s largest wireless operator, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Bharti Airtel added 2.93 million wireless subscribers during the month, while Reliance Jio added 2.15 million subscribers. Vodafone Idea (Vi) gained 121,289 wireless subscribers, increasing its customer base from 198.54 million in April to 198.66 million in May, continuing its gradual recovery after years of subscriber losses. Meanwhile, state-run BSNL lost 104,660 wireless subscribers.
Overall, India’s wireless subscriber base grew by 5.09 million to reach 1.277 billion at the end of May.
Reliance Jio remained the market leader with 501.44 million wireless subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 483.81 million, Vodafone Idea with 198.66 million, and BSNL with 92.91 million subscribers.
Including fixed wireless access connections, the total wireless subscriber base increased by 5.50 million to 1.294 billion during May, while the total telephone subscriber base reached 1.343 billion. Tele-density also improved to 94.02%, up from 93.69% in April.
Active wireless subscribers stood at 1.196 billion, representing 93.64% of the total subscriber base. Among the major telecom operators, Bharti Airtel recorded the highest Visitor Location Register (VLR) ratio at 99.28%, followed by Reliance Jio at 98.83%, Vodafone Idea at 84.41%, and BSNL at 55.85%.
Demand for mobile number portability remained strong, with 14.46 million users submitting requests to switch operators during May.
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