Bharti Airtel maintained its lead in subscriber additions in March 2026, adding 5.09 million wireless users, significantly ahead of Reliance Jio, which added 3.23 million subscribers, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
For the second consecutive month, Vodafone Idea added subscriber, with March additions coming at 103,000 (February: 22,000) users to its overall subscriber base. However, much of this acceleration in subscriber addition continues to come from the telco’s performance in the M2M or enterprise connections segment, a significantly lower average revenue per user (Arpu) business.
Ex-M2M, Airtel added 1.59 million users in March, slightly behind Jio’s 1.74 million additions. Vodafone Idea lost 0.16 million users, indicating a moderation in churn from 0.49 million in February.
Rise in India’s telecom subscriber base
Overall, India’s telecom subscriber base rose to 1.331 billion as compared to 1.321 billion in February, with net additions of 9.28 million users, according to data released by the telecom regulator. Both urban and rural markets registered net additions in the month.
The total wireless subscriber base (mobile + fixed wireless access) increased to 1.282 billion from 1.273 billion in February, reflecting a 0.71% monthly growth rate.
The wireline subscriber base increased to 48.25 million, adding 0.25 million users during the month, with a growth rate of 0.53%.
At the end of March 2026, Jio’s total subscriber base stood at 496.34 million as compared to 493.11 million at end of February.
Airtel’s subscriber base at end of the month was 477.74 million as against February’s 472.65 million while, Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base at the end of the month was 198.48 million (February: 198.38 million) and BSNL’s was 92.94 million (February: 92.92 million).
Jio outspaces airtel in terms of 56 FWA customer additions
Jio outpaced Airtel in terms of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) customer additions in March, adding 0.24 million net new users as compared to Airtel’s 0.15 million.
As a result, Jio’s 5G FWA base now stands at 8.58 million (February: 8.32 million) and Airtel’s at 3.74 million (February: 3.59 million). The total FWA base in the country at March end was 12.32 million (February: 11.93 million).
Jio, which has also launched UBR FWA added 0.2 new customers on the service, taking its total user base to 4.28 million at the end of March (February: 4.09 million).
Jio’s market share dropped marginally to 39.21% from 39.22% in February. Airtel’s subscriber market share rose to 37.74% (February: 37.59%). Despite the sustained increase in total subscribers, Vodafone Idea continued to cede market share at 15.68% (February: 15.78%). BSNL’s share of user base also dipped to 7.34% (February: 7.39%).
According to regulator data, active subscribers base accounted for 93.67% of the total wireless subscribers (February: 93.66%). The total active subscriber base rose to 1.186 billion as compared to 1.177 billion in the month prior.
Among the operators, Airtel’s active subscribers base was 99.24% of the overall userbase, Jio’s was 98.62%, and Vodafone Idea’s was 85.30%. All three private telcos showed improved in active user base proportions.
During the month, 14.63 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The MNP applications accelerated sequentially, compared 14.47 million in February.