Jio, Airtel, BSNL Add Mobile Users; Vodafone Idea's Pool Shrinks

Reliance Jio added 19.97 lakh mobile subscribers in October this year - its highest gains among operators in India, as the telco increased user count to 48.47 crore, according to data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday.

Bharti Airtel's wireless users grew by 12.52 lakh, bolstering the mobile subscriber tally of the Sunil Mittal-led telecom firm to 39.36 crore in October from 39.24 crore in September.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd onboarded 2.69 lakh mobile users during October 2025. The subscriber base of the state-owned telecom corporation rose to 9.25 crore at the end of October.

Vodafone Idea lost 20.83 lakh wireless subscribers; its mobile user base dipped to 20.07 crore in October (from 20.28 crore in September).

Jio cemented its position with wireless subscriber gains at 19.97 lakh, and its mobile user base swelled to 48.47 crore in October from 48.27 crore in September.

Overall, India's total telephone subscriber base rose to 123.1 crore as of October (118.4 crore wireless and 4.6 crore wireline).

As per the information received from operators for October 2025, the total number of broadband subscribers increased to 99.98 crore at the end of October 2025 (from 99.56 crore at the end of September 2025), a growth rate of 0.42%.

'The number of wireline subscribers increased...to 46.75 million at the end of October 2025. The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.14 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.30%,' Trai said.

Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 8.16% and 0.55%, respectively, as of October 31, 2025.

'The share of urban subscribers, and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers was 89.36% and 10.64% respectively, at the end of October 2025,' the regulator said.

During the month, the number of wireless (Mobile + Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased to 118.4 crore, a growth of 0.19% over September.