According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Reliance Jio continued its strong customer acquisition momentum in May 2025, outpacing rivals Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), and BSNL. While Jio led in net additions, other operators showed signs of recovery or faced slower customer losses amid intense market competition.
Reliance Jio added a whopping 2.7 million new users in May, boosting its total wireless subscriber base from 472.41 million in April to 475.11 million by the end of the month. This marks yet another month of steady growth for Jio, reaffirming its leadership in India’s telecom market.
Bharti Airtel continued to grow, albeit slowly, adding 2,75,621 net new subscribers in May. This figure represents an improvement over April’s performance, when Airtel added 1,70,658 users. As of May end, Airtel’s total subscriber base reached 390.25 million, up from 389.97 million in April.
Vodafone Idea reported a net loss of 2,74,103 subscribers in May, a notable improvement over the 6,47,650 users it lost in April. The operator’s total subscriber base decreased marginally from 204.71 million in April to 204.44 million by the end of May. Despite slowing churn, Vi continues to lose market share month after month.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lost 1,35,654 subscribers in May. This is a slight improvement over the 1,55,000 users it lost in April. At the end of May, BSNL’s user base stood at 90.77 million, down from 90.9 million the previous month.
In the Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) segment:
Airtel added 1,82,458 FWA customers in May, taking its total FWA base to 1.54 million, up from 1.36 million in April.
Jio reported a drop of 2,86,331 FWA users, bringing its FWA base down to 5.85 million (April: 6.14 million). However, TRAI clarified that this dip was due to Jio’s reclassification of some FWA users under FTTH/home broadband.
Despite this adjustment, Jio remains the only operator with rural FWA coverage and still commands the largest FWA user base in India. Overall, the national FWA base stood at 7.4 million in May.
India’s total wireless subscriber base grew by 1.66 million in May, reaching 1.168 billion. The growth was led primarily by urban markets, which added 1.61 million subscribers, while rural areas contributed 0.38 million to the overall net gain.
Market share statistics for May 2025:
Jio: Rose to 40.92% (April: 40.76%)
Airtel: Dropped to 33.61% (April: 33.65%)
Vodafone Idea: Declined to 17.61% (April: 17.66%)
BSNL: Fell slightly to 7.82% (April: 7.84%)
Jio’s rising share underscores its continued dominance, while Airtel and Vi saw a second consecutive month of market share erosion.
The active user ratio in May rose to 93.03% of total wireless subscribers, up from 92.56% in April. The total number of active users stood at 1.08 billion, marking a steady increase.
Jio gained 5.38 million active subscribers, reaching 462.04 million active users.
Airtel lost 3.13 million, reducing its active base to 386.84 million.
Vodafone Idea saw a drop of 1.34 million, ending May with 172.87 million active users.
India’s fixed broadband subscriber base grew by 6.46% month-on-month, increasing from 41.41 million in April to 44.09 million in May. This surge reflects growing internet demand across urban and semi-urban areas.
In May, 14.03 million subscribers submitted requests for mobile number portability (MNP). The cumulative MNP requests reached 1,146.45 million, up from 1,132.41 million in April. The high volume underscores the fiercely competitive telecom landscape.