Telecom users up nearly 7 million in April; Airtel, Jio gain most

New Delhi: The nation's telecom subscriber base grew by a net 6.96 million users in April, driven by strong wireless additions and growth in broadband users, data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday showed.

Total telephone subscribers rose to 1.34 billion, with wireless subscribers accounting for most of the growth. Wireless users increased by a net 6.17 million to 1.27 billion by the end of April, while wireline subscribers grew by 0.33 million, showed Trai data.

Bharti Airtel added the highest number of users during the month at 3.13 million, followed by Reliance Jio with 2.94 million additions.

Cash-strapped Vodafone Idea added 53,257 users in April, marking its third consecutive month of subscriber gains. State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) added 76,175 users during the same period.

At the end of April, Jio had the country's largest wireless subscriber base at 499.2 million users. Airtel's wireless subscriber base stood at 480.88 million, while Vodafone Idea had 198.53 million users. BSNL ended the month with 93 million users.

Trai data also showed a sharp rise in fixed wireless access (FWA) subscribers for Reliance Jio, which added 209,640 users in April. Airtel added 18,831 FWA users during the month. By the end of April, Jio's FWA subscriber base stood at 8.79 million, as against Airtel's 3.75 million.

In terms of active subscribers, Jio led with 492.46 million active users, or 98.63% of its total subscriber base. Airtel followed with 480.88 million active users, representing 99.72% of its subscriber base, while Vodafone Idea had 169.27 million active users, or 85.26% of its users.

Active subscriber-or visitor location register (VLR)-data published monthly by Trai indicates the number of mobile users regularly using a telecom network.

As of April 2026, Jio retained leadership in India's wireless market with a 39.25% market share. Airtel remained the second-largest operator with a 37.81% share, followed by Vodafone Idea at 15.61% and BSNL at 7.31%.

Machine-to-machine connections rose to 127.48 million in April from 123.88 million in March, led by Airtel with 79.01 million connections.

April also saw 14.74 million requests for mobile number portability, reflecting continued churn and competitive intensity in the nation's telecom market.