India’s broadband subscriber base crossed 1,080 million or 1.08 billion at the end of May 2026, while total telephone subscribers rose to 1,343.10 million, reflecting continued growth across broadband, wireless and wireline segments. Broadband subscriptions increased by 6.71 million during the month to 1,080.15 million, while the overall telecom subscriber base expanded by 5.56 million, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) yesterday.

Broadband subscriptions grew 0.63 percent month-on-month from 1,073.44 million in April to 1,080.15 million in May. Mobile wireless broadband remained the dominant segment with 1,014.79 million subscribers, followed by fixed wired access at 47.40 million and fixed wireless access at 17.97 million.

Fixed wireless access recorded the fastest growth at 2.46 percent during the month, while fixed wired access grew 1.18 percent.

Among broadband providers, Reliance Jio Infocomm led the market with 529.61 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 376.11 million and Vodafone Idea with 129.21 million. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited had 27.52 million subscribers, while Atria Convergence Technologies had 2.43 million.

Together, the top five providers accounted for 98.59 percent of the broadband market.

The wireless subscriber base, including mobile and fixed wireless access connections, increased by 5.50 million to 1,294.46 million at the end of May, registering monthly growth of 0.43 percent.

Urban wireless subscriptions rose to 744.36 million, while rural subscriptions reached 550.11 million. Wireless tele-density increased to 90.61 percent from 90.28 percent in April.

Wireline subscribers increased marginally by 0.06 million to 48.64 million during the month, translating into growth of 0.12 percent. Urban users accounted for 89.13 percent of the wireline base, while rural subscribers represented 10.87 percent.

Public-sector operators BSNL, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited and Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited together held 18.40 percent of the wireline market.

TRAI said the number of wireless 5G fixed wireless access subscribers increased from 12.55 million in April to 12.73 million in May. Rural areas accounted for 50.16 percent of the 5G FWA subscriber base, slightly ahead of urban areas at 49.84 percent.

Total M2M cellular mobile connections rose to 131.11 million from 127.48 million a month earlier, with Bharti Airtel holding the largest share at 61.65 percent.

The total telephone subscriber base rose from 1,337.54 million in April to 1,343.10 million in May, pushing overall tele-density up to 94.02 percent from 93.69 percent.