The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released telecom subscription data for September 2026, showing continued growth in India's telecommunications sector. The total telephone subscriber base reached 1,367.93 million, comprising 1,319.19 million wireless subscribers and 48.74 million wireline subscribers. The sector added 7.23 million net subscribers during September 2026, with wireless connections contributing 6.94 million additions and wireline adding 0.29 million.
Broadband connectivity showed robust penetration with 1,107.68 million subscribers including machine-to-machine (M2M) cellular mobile connections. Excluding M2M connections, broadband subscribers stood at 1,013.87 million. Wireless broadband accounted for 1,058.79 million subscribers (including M2M) while wireline broadband represented 48.89 million subscribers.
The urban-rural distribution revealed significant disparities in telecom penetration. Urban areas had 807.78 million telephone subscribers (59.05% share) while rural areas had 560.16 million subscribers (40.95% share). Urban tele-density reached 155.85% compared to rural tele-density of 61.30%, reflecting much higher connectivity in urban regions. Overall tele-density including M2M connections stood at 95.52% nationally.
Monthly growth rates showed wireless subscriptions growing at 0.53%, wireline at 0.60%, and total telephone subscriptions at 0.53%. The report noted 16.77 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in September 2026. The number of active wireless subscribers, measured by peak Visitor Location Register data, was 1,212.80 million during the month. The data was compiled from information provided by Telecom Service Providers to TRAI, with tele-density calculations based on population projections from the 2011-2036 Technical Group report.