Telecom Sector in India Expands by 3.24 Million Users in May, Led by Jio and Airtel

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the total telecom user base reached 1.207 billion in May 2025.. TRAI’s latest data highlights the continued dominance of private players like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, while legacy operators such as Vodafone Idea and government-run BSNL struggled to retain subscribers.

3.24 Net addition in Users in May 

India’s telecom industry witnessed robust growth in May 2025, with a net addition of 3.24 million users. The monthly growth rate stood at 0.27%, supported largely by mobile users in both urban and rural regions. Urban subscribers totalled 669.69 million, accounting for 55.48% of the market, while rural customers contributed 537.39 million users or 44.52%. The urban teledensity surged to 131.76%, whereas rural teledensity continues to lag at 59.33%.

Reliance Jio Extends Leadership Across Segments

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) subsidiary of Reliance Jio, further cemented its leadership across wireless, wireline, and broadband, adding 2.7 million mobile subscribers in May. This marks a slight improvement over April’s performance and reinforces Jio’s 41% market share in mobile services. By maintaining a lead across multiple digital platforms, Jio positions itself as a crucial player in the country’s expanding connectivity infrastructure.

Airtel Sees Steady Gains in Users and IoT

Bharti Airtel added 2,75,621 mobile subscribers, improving from 171,000 in April. Beyond consumer growth, Airtel continued its dominance in the machine-to-machine (M2M) segment, with over 40 million active connections and a commanding 54% market share. Its strength in enterprise and IoT deployments aligns with India’s ongoing digital transformation across sectors.

Read More: Jio Financial: SEBI Approves Jio BlackRock as Stockbroker!

Vodafone Idea and BSNL Continue to Lose Ground

Vodafone Idea reported a subscriber loss of 2,74,000 in May. Though an improvement compared to April’s steep fall of 6,47,000 users, the operator remains in the negative zone. Facing considerable financial stress from arrears liabilities and limited investment capacity, Vi’s declining user base reflects mounting operational challenges. 

Similarly, BSNL lost 135,000 subscribers, slightly less than April’s 155,000 drop. MTNL also continued to show subscriber erosion, pointing to the declining influence of public sector players, which now make up less than 8% of the mobile market.

Investor Lens on Sector Consolidation and 5G

The growing divergence between private and public telecom operators is likely to remain a crucial monitorable for market observers. With 5G monetisation underway and subscriber metrics favouring Jio and Airtel, the data underscores emerging consolidation within the sector. TRAI’s report acts as an important pulse check for telecom performance as digital adoption deepens across India.

Conclusion

India’s telecom landscape showed healthy expansion in May 2025, led by Jio and Airtel subscriber gains. While rural connectivity gaps remain a growth opportunity, Vodafone Idea and state-run firms continued to face user attrition, stressing the consolidation trend across the industry. The stage appears set for further transformation amid rising digital demand and 5G progress.

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