India’s wireless subscriber base hits 1.16 billion in March, grows 0.28% monthly: TRAI

NEW DELHI: India’s total wireless subscriber base, including mobile and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA), rose to 1,163.76 million in March current year from 1,160.33 million in February, marking a monthly growth of 0.28 per cent, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday.

The TRAI data reveals that the total wireless subscription in urban areas decreased from 634 million on February-25 to 632.57 million on March-25, and the subscription in rural areas also increased from 526.33 million to 531.18 million during the same period.

The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions was minus 0.26 per cent and 0.92 per cent, respectively, the data shows. The Wireless Tele-density in India increased from 82.23 per cent at the end of Feb-25 to 82.42 per cent at the end of March.

The Urban Wireless Tele-density decreased from 125.30 per cent at the end of February to 124.83 per cent at the end of March this year; however, the Rural Teledensity increased from 58.16 per cent to 58.67 per cent during the same period.

The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in the total number of wireless subscribers was 54.36 per cent and 45.64 per cent, respectively, at the end of March-25, the data shows.

Going deeper into the data, total wireless (Mobile) subscribers increased from 1,154.05 million at the end of February to 1,156.99 million at the end of March 2025, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.25 per cent.

Wireless (Mobile) subscription in urban areas increased from 627.94 million at the end of Feb-25 to 628.31 million at the end of Mar-25, and wireless (Mobile) subscription in rural areas also increased from 526.11 million to 528.68 million during the same period.

The monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless (Mobile) subscription was 0.06 per cent and 0.49 per cent, respectively, the data reveals. Region-wise data suggests that the Delhi service area has maximum tele-density of 275.79 per cent and the Bihar service area has minimum tele-density of 57.23 per cent at the end of March.

The data suggests that Reliance Jio had 40.60 per cent share in net additions in mobile subscriber base, followed by Bharti Airtel, which accounts for 33.69 per cent, Vodafone Idea 17.75 per cent, and BSNL retaining 7.87 per cent. (ANI)