BSNL Rising and Vi Declining! Over 2 Million Added, 3 Million Lost in a Month: TRAI Reports

India’s telecom sector saw a small rise in overall wireless subscribers in October 2025, even as trends differed across operators. Total mobile and Fixed Wireless Access connections climbed from 1182.32 million in September to 1184.62 million, giving the market a modest month‑on‑month growth rate of 0.19 percent, according to the latest Telecom Regulatory Authority of India subscription data.

The data showed Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel expanding their user bases, while Vodafone Idea lost customers. Reliance Jio delivered the strongest net additions among all telecom service providers, while Airtel also grew its base and maintained a solid share. By contrast, Vodafone Idea’s continued subscriber losses pulled its market share down to the weakest level among the major private providers.

Wireless subscribers growth and market share

Reliance Jio added 1.997 million wireless subscribers in October 2025, fewer than the 3.249 million added in September, yet still the highest monthly gain in the industry. This pushed Jio’s total wireless base to about 484.7 million users and translated into a 0.41 percent month‑on‑month growth rate, reinforcing Jio’s position as the leading operator by subscriber volume in the Indian telecom sector.

Bharti Airtel also increased its number of wireless subscribers during October 2025. Airtel’s base reached 393.7 million users after it gained 1.252 million new wireless customers in the month. This performance gave Airtel a 33.59 percent share of India’s total wireless subscriber base, keeping the operator firmly in second place behind Reliance Jio and ahead of Vodafone Idea and the public sector companies.

The state‑owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited recorded a smaller but clear improvement. BSNL added 0.269 million new wireless subscribers in October 2025, a rise of roughly 0.26 million connections. Together with fellow public sector operator MTNL, BSNL accounted for 7.92 percent of India’s total wireless subscriber base, highlighting the continuing though limited role of public providers within the telecom market.

Vodafone Idea, however, remained under pressure. The operator suffered the largest net loss among major telecom providers, shedding 2.083 million wireless subscribers in October 2025. Vodafone Idea’s total wireless base declined from about 202.8 million users in September to nearly 200.7 million at October’s end, and its share of the total wireless subscriber market slipped further to 17.13 percent.

Wireless subscribers trends in urban and rural India

While the national wireless subscriber count edged higher, the trend split between cities and villages. Urban wireless subscriptions slipped from 640.17 million in September 2025 to 639.99 million in October. Over the same period, rural wireless subscribers rose from 530.27 million to 531.88 million, suggesting that growth in wireless connectivity during the month came mainly from rural and semi‑urban areas.

*Urban and rural totals may differ slightly from the overall sector total because of rounding and categorisation.

Overall, TRAI’s October 2025 figures show that India’s wireless market is still growing, though at a slower monthly pace. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel added users and reinforced their positions, BSNL and MTNL modestly strengthened their combined base, and Vodafone Idea continued to lose subscribers, while rural India provided most of the incremental wireless connections.