Airtel, Jio Top Subscriber Gains in Feb 2025; Vi, BSNL Lose Users

According to the latest TRAI Telecom Subscription Data as of February 28, 2025, India’s total wireless (mobile) subscriber base rose from 1,151.29 million in January 2025 to 1,154.05 million in February 2025, reflecting a monthly growth rate of 0.24%. When including both mobile and 5G FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) users, total wireless subscriptions climbed from 1,157 million to 1,160.33 million, a growth rate of 0.27%.

5G FWA Subscribers Continue to Expand

India’s 5G FWA user base grew from 5.72 million to 6.27 million during February 2025. Of this, urban subscribers numbered 6.06 million, while rural users contributed 0.21 million.

• Reliance Jio held the lion’s share with 5,236,895 FWA subscribers, including 213,625 from rural areas.

• Bharti Airtel followed with 1,034,436 FWA users.

This trend indicates rising demand for next-gen wireless broadband, particularly in urban regions.

Airtel and Jio Lead in Wireless Subscriber Additions

During February 2025:

• Bharti Airtel added 1.59 million new wireless subscribers.

• Reliance Jio added 1.76 million users.

In contrast, other operators saw a decline:

• Vodafone Idea (Vi) lost 20,720 subscribers.

• BSNL lost 566,069 users.

• MTNL reported a drop of 2,034 subscribers.

Market Share Distribution: Jio and Airtel Dominate

As of February 28, 2025, private operators controlled 92.03% of the wireless market, while BSNL and MTNL together held 7.97%. The wireless market shares by operator were:

• Reliance Jio: 40.52% (467.58 million subscribers)

• Bharti Airtel: 33.67% (388.55 million)

• Vodafone Idea: 17.84% (205.90 million)

• BSNL: 7.89% (91.01 million)

• MTNL: 0.09% (1.00 million)

Wireless Broadband Subscriber Base

In terms of wireless broadband (fixed + mobile) as of November 2024:

• Reliance Jio led with 465.10 million subscribers.

• Airtel followed with 280.76 million.

• Vodafone Idea: 125.87 million

• BSNL: 30.87 million

These figures underline Jio and Airtel’s stronghold on the data consumption market.

Wireline Subscriber Growth and Market Share

India’s wireline (landline) user base rose from 35.03 million in January to 36.91 million in February 2025, a monthly growth of 5.36%.

Market share breakdown:

• Reliance Jio: 34.45% (12.71 million subscribers, added 93,689)

• Bharti Airtel: 27.29% (10.07 million, added 107,690)

• BSNL: 20.91% (7.71 million, added 1.70 million)

• Vodafone Idea: 2.26% (832,544, lost 6,734)

BSNL saw a significant boost in its wireline subscriber base, making notable gains in this segment.

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Mobile Connections

M2M mobile connections grew from 63.09 million to 64.71 million in February 2025. Here's how the market stood:

• Airtel: 33.86 million (52.33% share)

• Vodafone Idea: 16.02 million (24.76%)

• Reliance Jio: 11.53 million (17.81%)

• BSNL: 3.3 million (5.10%)

This surge highlights the growing use of IoT and connected devices across sectors.

Active Wireless Subscribers and VLR Data

Out of the total 1,154.05 million wireless users, 1,068.37 million were active on TRAI’s peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) day, making 92.58% of subscribers active.

Operator-wise VLR percentages:

• Airtel: 99.90%

• Reliance Jio: 95.38%

• Vodafone Idea: 85.18%

• BSNL: 64.15%

• MTNL: 45.44%

These stats indicate Airtel’s exceptional user engagement and retention.