Airtel leads in subscriber growth: Trai data

India’s telecom sector witnessed steady growth in June 2025, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel leading the net subscriber additions, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Overall, the country’s mobile subscriber base grew by 2.45 million, taking the total to 1.17 billion users by the end of the month.

Reliance Jio Adds 1.9 Million Subscribers

Reliance Jio continued to maintain its leadership position by adding 1.9 million new customers in June. Its total subscriber base increased to 477.02 million, up from 475.11 million in May. The company also saw growth in its active user base, which rose by 2.42 million to reach 464.46 million.

Jio’s market share edged up to 41.02%, compared to 40.92% in May, further consolidating its dominance in the Indian telecom market.

Airtel Gains Momentum in Net Additions

Bharti Airtel, the country’s second-largest telecom operator, saw a rebound in subscriber growth after a few months of sluggish performance. Airtel added 763,482 new customers in June, bringing its total subscriber base to 391.01 million from 390.25 million in May.

Airtel’s market share also rose marginally to 33.62%, reversing two consecutive months of decline. Its active subscriber base increased by 1.2 million, reaching 388.04 million by the end of June.

Vodafone Idea Slows Customer Churn

Vodafone Idea (Vi) continued to struggle but showed a slight improvement in customer retention. Its net customer churn slowed to 217,816 in June, compared to 274,103 in May.

The company’s total subscriber base dropped to 204.22 million, down from 204.44 million the previous month. Vi’s market share also slipped to 17.56%, continuing its downward trajectory.

BSNL Loses Over 300,000 Users

State-owned operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) experienced a sharper decline in its subscriber base, losing 305,766 customers in June. This was more than double the user loss of 135,654 recorded in May.

As a result, BSNL’s total subscriber base fell to 90.47 million (May: 90.77 million), while its market share shrank marginally to 7.78% from 7.82% in May.

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Sees Strong Growth

The FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) segment recorded robust growth in June. Airtel added 201,781 FWA subscribers, signaling a ramp-up in its customer acquisition strategy.

Jio reported an increase of 253,201 FWA users during the month and remains the only telecom operator with a rural presence in the FWA market.

• Jio’s total FWA base now stands at 6.11 million (May: 5.85 million).

• Airtel’s FWA subscriber base rose to 1.74 million, up from 1.54 million in May.

The total FWA base in India reached 7.85 million users by the end of June.

Urban Markets Lead Overall Telecom Growth

Urban markets were the main driver of the industry’s growth, adding 2.97 million subscribers in June. Rural markets, however, saw a decline of 0.51 million customers during the same period.

Active Subscriber Base Reaches 1.163 Billion

The proportion of active users in the total wireless subscriber base stood at 93.09% in June, slightly higher than 93.03% in May. The active subscriber base rose to 1.163 billion, compared to 1.08 billion the previous month.

Vodafone Idea’s active subscriber base declined by 0.22 million to 172.65 million, while fixed broadband subscribers grew by 1.35% month-on-month to reach 44.99 million (May: 44.09 million).

Surge in MNP Requests

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) requests continued to rise, with 13.58 million requests submitted in June. This pushed the cumulative MNP requests to 1,160.03 million, up from 1,146.45 million in May.