TRAI releases October subscriber data: Jio, Airtel expand, Vodafone Idea falls behind
TRAI’s October subscriber data shows Jio and Airtel continuing to dominate user additions, while BSNL reports a strong surge after launching 4G services. Vi’s subscriber losses continue, and India is on the verge of reaching 1 billion broadband users.
TRAI has recently released the latest subscriber numbers for October 2025. The report indicates the growth in the telecom sector. India's total telephone users rose to 123.1 crore, which means 118.4 crore were mobile users and 4.6 crore subscribers used wireline services. Mobile users recorded a marginal growth of 0.19 per cent over the previous month due to sustained expansion in pan-India connectivity.
Jio adds nearly 20 lakh new users.
Reliance Jio continued to remain the country's largest telecom operator for October, adding the maximum number of new subscribers. As per the report, Jio has added around 19.97 lakh new subscribers in October this year (2025). The total mobile user base has reached an impressive 48.47 crore in the country. The company is reportedly growing consistently in the year 2024, on the back of strong adoption of 4G and 5G services, along with improvement in rural penetration.
Airtel has put up a good show
Airtel, too, put up a good show by adding 12.52 lakh new subscribers in October. The operator’s total base now stands at 39.36 crore, up from 39.24 crore in September. With an increasing premium customer base, Airtel remains India's second-largest telecom company.
BSNL sees a big jump, but Vi continues to lose users
The state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or BSNL witnessed an unexpected surge in subscribers, adding 26.9 lakh new subscribers in October. With its 4G rollout finally underway, BSNL has grown its total mobile subscriber base to 9.25 crore. The new network upgrade seems to be attracting customers in Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets.
Vi, on the other hand, continues to erode subscribers. The company lost 20.83 lakh users in October, bringing its total base down to 20.07 crore. In September, Vi had 20.28 crore users. The critical challenge for this company is making network investments and retaining subscribers.
Broadband users close to 1 billion
Besides mobile growth, the broadband segment is also growing fast in India. Total broadband subscribers reached 99.98 crore last month from 99.56 crore in September. The country is now at the threshold of crossing the landmark figure of 1 billion broadband subscribers with 4.2 million new additions within a month.