India Telecom Base Hits 1.35 Billion as 5G Fixed Wireless Expands

India’s total telephone subscriber base expanded by 6.20 million connections in July 2026 to reach 1.35 billion, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Monthly growth of 0.46 per cent lifted overall wireless subscriptions to 1.31 billion, while wireline connections ticked up 0.39 per cent to 48.01 million. National wireless tele-density crossed a key threshold, rising from 89.71 per cent in June to 90.04 per cent. Urban mobile connections climbed 0.57 per cent during the month, outpacing rural mobile subscriber growth of 0.24 per cent.

Concentration in broadband access

Broadband lines reached 1.094 billion at the end of July, up from 1.09 billion in June. Mobile wireless remains the primary access route for consumers, representing 1.03 billion connections after growing 0.59 per cent. Fixed wired lines rose 0.90 per cent to 48.14 million.

Five operators control 98.59 per cent of the broadband market. Reliance Jio retained the lead with 535.12 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel at 384.23 million. Vodafone Idea held third place with 129.96 million users, while state-run BSNL and Atria Convergence Technologies followed with 27.28 million and 2.47 million connections, respectively.

Rural adoption of 5G fixed wireless

Fixed wireless access outpaced traditional connectivity categories, climbing 2.60 per cent month-on-month to 18.84 million lines. Within that segment, 5G-based fixed wireless subscriptions reached 13.21 million, up from 12.94 million in June after adding 272,820 connections.

Rural households accounted for 50.31 per cent of all 5G fixed wireless connections, slightly ahead of the 49.69 per cent recorded across urban centers. The split indicates that operators are relying on wireless broadband to bypass physical fiber bottlenecks outside major metropolitan areas.

Subscriber switching remained high across the country, with 15.98 million users submitting mobile number portability requests in July. Uttar Pradesh East generated the highest churn volume with 2.29 million porting requests, followed by Uttar Pradesh West at 1.55 million.