Airtel leads February subscriber gains; Jio retains wireless lead

Mumbai: Bharti Airtel led wireless mobile subscriber additions in February 2026, while Reliance Jio remained the country's largest wireless operator and continued to maintain a high proportion of active users, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Vodafone Idea was nearly flat, while state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd continued to lose subscribers.

India's total wireless subscriber base-including mobile users and fixed wireless access (FWA) customers-rose by 6.97 million during the month to 1.273 billion. Growth remained largely urban-led, with cities adding 5.08 million subscribers compared with 1.89 million in rural areas.

In terms of scale, Reliance Jio retained its position as the largest wireless operator with 493.11 million subscribers at the end of February, followed by Bharti Airtel with 472.65 million users. Vodafone Idea had 198.38 million subscribers, while BSNL had 92.93 million.


During the month, Airtel added about 4.86 million wireless mobile subscribers, compared with Jio's 1.62 million additions. Vodafone Idea added just 21,927 users, while BSNL lost 101,824 subscribers. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited also saw a decline of 2,701 users. These figures exclude the FWA segment.

Active wireless mobile subscribers-measured by the Visitor Location Register (VLR)-stood at 1.178 billion in February, or 93.66% of the total wireless base of 1.257 billion. Airtel reported the highest activity ratio at 99.42%, followed by Jio at 98.35%. Vodafone Idea and BSNL lagged, with active-user ratios of 85.24% and 57.34%, respectively.

Across the broader telecom market, total telephone subscribers increased by 7.31 million to 1.321 billion, driven largely by wireless growth. Wireline subscribers rose by 0.34 million to 47.99 million. Urban teledensity stood at 150.68%, while rural teledensity was 60.02%.