Wireless, broadband see strongest growth as India adds 6.95 mn phone users in April; Reliance Jio leads market

The most notable jump came in Fixed Wireless Access, which grew 2.53% month-on-month to 17.54 million, the fastest among all broadband segments, while wireline connections logged the highest overall monthly growth rate at 0.68%.

According to TRAI's subscriber data for the month ended April, total telephone subscribers increased 0.52% from March, driven by a net addition of 6.63 million wireless users and 0.33 million wireline users.

"The number of wireless (mobile + Fixed Wireless Access) subscribers increased from 1282.33 million at the end of March 2026 to 1288.96 million at the end of April 2026, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.52%," the release said. Overall tele-density rose to 93.69% from 93.26%.

Broadband subscribers climbed to 1073.44 million from 1065.88 million, a 0.71% monthly increase. Within that, Fixed Wireless Access users posted the sharpest segment rise of 2.53% to 17.54 million, signalling accelerating 5G FWA and UBR adoption. Mobile wireless broadband grew 0.68% to 1009.06 million, while fixed wired access edged up 0.71% to 46.84 million. Reliance Jio Infocomm remained the broadband market leader with 526.94 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel at 373.00 million and Vodafone Idea at 128.92 million. The top five players together held 98.61% market share.

On the wireline side, the segment added 0.33 million users to reach 48.58 million, marking the highest monthly growth rate across categories at 0.68%. "The overall wireline tele-density in India increased from 3.38% at the end of March 2026 to 3.40% at the end of April 2026," TRAI said. Urban wireline tele-density stood at 8.42% and rural at 0.57%, with urban users making up 89.23% of the wireline base.

Wireless mobile subscribers grew 0.49% to 1271.90 million, with urban users up 0.52% to 730.30 million and rural up 0.44% to 541.60 million. "At the end of April 2026, the private access service providers held 92.67% of the market share in terms of wireless (mobile) subscribers, whereas PSU access service providers viz. BSNL and MTNL together held a market share of 7.33%," the report noted. All licensed service areas showed growth in wireless mobile subscribers during the month.

M2M cellular connections saw a healthy rise, increasing from 123.88 million in March to 127.48 million in April. Bharti Airtel led the segment with 79.01 million connections and a 61.98% share, followed by Reliance Jio at 19.05% and Vodafone Idea at 15.73%.

Subscriber churn remained high, with 14.74 million users submitting Mobile Number Portability requests in April. Active wireless subscribers on the date of peak VLR stood at 1193.57 million.

Tele-density gaps persisted across geographies. Delhi LSA recorded the maximum overall tele-density at 363.41%, while Bihar had the lowest at 63.62%. Nine LSAs remained below the all-India average of 93.69%. Urban tele-density reached 152.11% and rural 60.74%, underscoring continued urban-rural divergence even as rural wireless subscriptions grew 0.47% to 549.18 million. (ANI)