India’s broadband subscriber base grew slightly in January, reaching 945.16 million, up from 944.96 million recorded at the end of December. This translates to a marginal monthly growth rate of 0.04 per cent, according to official government data released on Monday.
The broadband category includes both wired and wireless users. The slight uptick was largely driven by mobile broadband, which saw its user base rise from 898.57 million in December to 899.04 million in January.
The top five broadband service providers — accounting for both wired and wireless connections — maintained a commanding presence in the sector, holding a combined market share of 98.43 per cent.
Among these, Bharti Airtel led with a subscriber base of 289.31 million. Vodafone Idea came in third, boasting 126.41 million users.
State-run BSNL and Atria Convergence Technologies completed the top five, with 35.77 million and 2.28 million subscribers, respectively.
In the wired broadband segment, Bharti Airtel reported 8.55 million users. BSNL followed with 4.26 million subscribers, while Atria accounted for 2.28 million. Kerala Vision Broadband rounded out the top five in this category with 1.28 million users.
Together, these five companies represented 67.67 per cent of the market share in the fixed broadband space, the report highlighted.
When it comes to wireless connections, both mobile and fixed wireless broadband showed distinct patterns. Mobile broadband users increased slightly by 0.05 per cent, rising from 898.57 million in December to 899.04 million in January.
Meanwhile, the number of fixed wireless broadband users during the same period stood at 4.98 million.
The telecom report also pointed out a change in the categorization of 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) subscribers. Previously grouped under wireline, these users are now included in the wireless category. This reclassification contributed to a rise in the total wireless subscriber base, which increased from 1,150.66 million in December to 1,157 million in January, reflecting a 0.55 per cent growth.
In addition, January saw over 14.14 million users opting for Mobile Number Portability (MNP), bringing the cumulative number of MNP requests to 1,093.33 million since the facility was first introduced.
Overall, the telecom sector exhibited steady performance with modest gains in broadband and wireless subscriptions. Urban regions continued to lead in terms of tele-density and market reach, as per the findings of the report.
