Bharti Airtel maintained its lead in subscriber additions in April 2026, adding 3.14 million wireless users, while market leader Reliance Jio significantly closed the gap in net additions at 2.94 million, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). In March, the difference in net additions between the two was nearly 2 million. 

For the third consecutive month, Vodafone Idea added subscriber, though the pace slowed to 53,257 additions (March: 103,000) 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 1.12 million users in April, behind Jio’s 1.89 million additions. Vodafone Idea lost 0.41 million users, indicating an acceleration in churn from 0.16 million in March. 

Overall, India’s telecom subscriber base rose to 1.337 billion as compared to 1.331 billion in March, with net additions of 6.95 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 1.289 billion from 1.282 billion in March, reflecting a 0.52% monthly growth rate. 

The wireline subscriber base increased to 48.58 million, adding 0.33 million users during the month, with a growth rate of 0.68%.

At the end of April 2026, Jio’s total subscriber base stood at 499.28 million as compared to 496.34 million at end of March. Airtel’s subscriber base at end of the month was 480.88 million as against March’s 477.74 million while, Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base at the end of the month was 198.54 million (March: 198.48 million) and BSNL’s was 93.02 million (March: 92.94 million).  

Jio outpaced Airtel in terms of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) customer additions in March, adding 0.21 million net new users as compared to Airtel’s 18,831 additions    .  

As a result, Jio’s 5G FWA base now stands at 8.79 million (March: 8.58 million) and Airtel’s at 3.76 million (March: 3.74 million). The total FWA base in the country at April end was 12.55 million (March: 12.32 million). 

Jio, which has also launched UBR FWA added 0.22 new customers on the service, taking its total user base to 4.5 million at the end of April (March: 4.28 million). 

Jio’s market share rose marginally to 39.25% from 39.21% in March. Airtel’s subscriber market share rose to 37.81% (March: 37.74%). Despite the sustained increase in total subscribers, Vodafone Idea continued to cede market share at 15.61% (March: 15.68%). BSNL’s share of user base also dipped to 7.31% (March: 7.34%).

According to regulator data, active subscribers base accounted for 93.84% of the total wireless subscribers (March: 93.67%). The total active subscriber base rose to 1.194 billion as compared to 1.186 billion in the month prior.  

Among the operators, Airtel’s active subscribers base was 99.72% of the overall userbase, Jio’s was 98.63%, and Vodafone Idea’s was 85.%. All three private telcos showed improved in active user base proportions. 

During the month, 14.74 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The MNP applications accelerated sequentially, compared 14.63 million in March.