India Telecom Subscribers Reach 1.35 Billion in June 2026, Wireless Growth Continues

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its telecom subscription data for June 2026, showing continued growth in India’s wireless and broadband market. The country added nearly 5 million new telephone subscribers during the month, taking the total subscriber base to 1.348 billion.

1. Total Telephone Subscribers

  • Total subscribers: 1,348.08 million (1.348 billion)
  • Net addition in June 2026: 4.98 million
  • Monthly growth: 0.37%

This means India gained almost 5 million new telecom users in just one month.

2. Wireless vs Wireline Subscribers

CategorySubscribers (Million)
Wireless1300.25
Wireline47.82
Total1348.08

What it means:

  • More than 96% of telecom users rely on wireless/mobile connections.
  • Wireline (landline) users continue to decline.

3. Broadband Subscribers

CategorySubscribers (Million)
Including M2M1087.5
Excluding M2M1001.5

India now has over 1.08 billion broadband connections. Even after excluding Machine-to-Machine (M2M) SIMs, broadband subscribers remain above 1 billion, highlighting strong internet penetration.

4. Urban vs Rural Subscribers

AreaSubscribers (Million)
Urban792.06
Rural556.01
  • Urban share: 58.76%
  • Rural share: 41.24%

Urban India continues to account for the majority of telecom subscribers, though rural connectivity is steadily expanding.

5. Tele-density

Tele-density refers to the number of telephone connections per 100 people.

CategoryTele-density
Overall94.31%
Urban153.43%
Rural60.89%

Explanation:

  • India has 94 telephone connections for every 100 people.
  • Urban areas have more than one connection per person on average.
  • Rural tele-density is lower but continues to improve.

6. Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

  • 14.78 million mobile users requested Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in June 2026.

This indicates a large number of consumers switched telecom operators while retaining their existing mobile numbers.

7. Active Mobile Subscribers

  • Active wireless subscribers (Peak VLR): 1,201.06 million

These are subscribers who were actively using their mobile services during the reporting period, providing a more accurate picture of active users than total registered connections.

How many Non Subscriber available in India?

According to the TRAI June 2026 report:

  • Overall tele-density: 94.31% (including M2M connections)
  • This means there are 94.31 telephone connections for every 100 people, not that 94.31% of people have a phone. Many individuals own more than one SIM card, while others have none.

Estimated Non-Subscribers

Using the population projection implied by the report:

  • Total telephone subscribers: 1.34808 billion
  • Overall tele-density: 94.31%

Estimated population:Population≈1.348080.9431≈1.429 billion\text{Population} \approx \frac{1.34808}{0.9431} \approx 1.429 \text{ billion}Population≈0.94311.34808​≈1.429 billion

Estimated people without any telephone connection:1.429−1.34808≈0.081 billion1.429 – 1.34808 \approx 0.081 \text{ billion}1.429−1.34808≈0.081 billion

≈ 81 million people (8.1 crore)

Important Limitation

This 81 million is only an estimate based on subscriber numbers. It does not represent the exact number of people without a mobile phone, because:

  • One person may have multiple SIM cards.
  • Some SIMs belong to businesses or IoT/M2M devices.
  • Family members may share a single phone.

So, the report cannot accurately tell how many unique individuals are non-subscribers. It only reports telephone connections, not individual users.

Estimated non-subscribers (based on connections): ≈ 81 million (8.1 crore people).

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