India's broadband market grows: Jio, Airtel lead with nearly 98 percent share

The total broadband subscribers in India increased from 904.54 million at the end of December 2023 to 911.03 million at the end of January 2024 with a monthly growth rate of 0.72 percent. As per latest TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) data, the top five service providers constituted 98.35 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of January 2024. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, BSNL and Atria Convergence.

As on 31st January, 2024, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Atria Convergence Technologies and Oneott Intertainment Limited. On the other hand, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, BSNL and Intech Online Pvt. Ltd.

Wireline subscribers in the country increased from31.84 million at the end of December 2023 to 32.54 million at the end of January 2024. Net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.70 million with a monthly rate of growth 2.19 percent. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 91.44 percent and 8.56 percent respectively at the end of January, 2024.

The Overall Wireline Tele-density in India increased from 2.28 percent at the end of December 2023 to 2.33 percent at the end of January 2024. Urban and Rural Wireline Tele-density were 6 percent and 0.31 percent respectively during the same period.BSNL, MTNL and APSFL, the three PSUs access service providers, held 28.78% of the wireline market share as on 31st January, 2023.

Wireless subscribers increased from 1,158.49 million at the end of December 2023, to 1,160.71 million at the end of January 2024, registering a monthly growth rate of 0.19 percent.

Wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 633.44 million at the end of December 2023 to 633.96 million at the end of January 2024 and wireless subscription in rural areas also increased from 525.05 million to 526.75 million during the same period.

Monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscription was 0.08 percent and 0.32 percent respectively.

The Wireless Tele-density in India increased from 82.95percent at the end of December 223 to 83.05 percent at the end of January 2024. The Urban Wireless Tele- density decreased from 127.88 percent at the end of December 2023 to 127.79 percent at the end of January 2024 however Rural Tele-density increased from 58.26 percent to 58.43 percent during the same period.

The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in total number of wireless subscribers was 54.62 percent and 45.38 percent respectively at the end of January 24.