India’s telecom industry has once again seen major shifts. According to TRAI’s August 2025 subscription report, Reliance Jio, Airtel, and BSNL added new wireless users, while Vodafone Idea (Vi) and MTNL continued to lose subscribers.
In a surprising development, BSNL added 1.38 million (13.8 lakh) new users — more than Airtel — marking a strong comeback after a long time.
Experts believe this growth is largely due to BSNL’s ₹1 4G SIM offer, which attracted many new customers.
Jio Leads the Market
As per TRAI data:
Reliance Jio added 1.94 million users, increasing its market share to 41.08%.
Airtel gained 0.49 million users.
BSNL added 1.38 million users, surpassing Airtel in growth rate.
Vi (Vodafone Idea) lost 3.08 lakh users.
MTNL also lost 2,051 users.
Overall, India’s total mobile subscriber base rose from 1,163.51 million in July to 1,167.03 million in August, showing a 0.30% monthly growth.
5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Sees Growth
For the first time since August, TRAI reported Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) data under two categories — 5G FWA (based on 5G radio technology) and UBR FWA (Unlicensed Band Radio connections).
The number of 5G FWA users grew from 8.40 million in July to 8.90 million in August. In this segment:
Reliance Jio leads with 6.76 million users.
Airtel follows with 2.13 million users.
Jio also reported UBR FWA data for the first time, with 2.1 million users, accounting for a 71.9% urban share.
Decline in Wireline Subscribers
While the mobile segment saw growth, wireline (broadband) connections declined from 48.11 million in July to 46.51 million in August, a 3.34% drop.
Jio, which holds a 30% market share, lost 1.55 million users.
Airtel gained 108,084 new subscribers, strengthening its position.
BSNL holds a 16.18% share, with a minor decline of 5,647 users.
BSNL’s strong wireless performance signals a potential turnaround for the state-run telecom operator, even as private players continue to dominate the market.
