India’s wireless subscribers cross 1.17 billion in July, TRAI data shows urban surge, rural decline and high churn

Looking only at mobile (excluding FWA), subscriptions crept up from 1,163.03 million in June to 1,163.51 million in July.

Reliance Jio retained pole position with a massive 498.47 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel at 307.07 million. Vodafone Idea, still struggling financially, held 127.58 million.

Among state-owned players, BSNL stood at 34.27 million, while Atria Convergence Technologies reported 2.34 million. Together, the top five broadband providers, wired and wireless, controlled 98.48 percent of the market by the end of July 2025.

India’s wireless base crosses 1.17 billion

According to the latest Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, India’s total wireless subscriber base, including mobile and 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), rose to 1,171.91 million in July 2025. That’s up from 1,170.88 million in June, a modest monthly growth of 0.09 percent.

Cities drive growth, villages lose ground

Urban areas added 3.16 million wireless users, taking their total to 641.03 million, a growth rate of 0.50 percent. But rural India went the other way, losing 2.12 million users to end at 530.88 million, a 0.40 percent decline.

This shift means cities now account for 54.70 percent of the total base, while villages contribute 45.30 percent.

Tele-density trends underline the divide: urban tele-density rose to 125.74 percent, while rural dipped to 58.57 percent.

Mobile growth uneven

Looking only at mobile (excluding FWA), subscriptions crept up from 1,163.03 million in June to 1,163.51 million in July.

Urban mobile connections grew by almost 3 million, while rural numbers fell by 2.39 million. In total, urban subscribers made up 54.66 percent of mobile users, while rural stood at 45.34 percent.

Subscribers keep switching

Even as the overall base grew slowly, user churn stayed high. In July alone, 15.41 million subscribers requested Mobile Number Portability (MNP), underlining how competitive India’s telecom market remains.

(With inputs from ANI)