India adds 7.23 million telephone subscriptions in September: TRAI

India had 1,367.93 million telephone subscriptions at the end of September 2026, an increase of 7.23 million during the month, according to telecom regulator TRAI’s data released on October 27. The reported monthly growth was 0.53%. These are subscription counts, not a count of distinct people.

The wireless base was 1,319.19 million and wireline subscriptions totalled 48.74 million. TRAI’s wireless definition includes mobile connections, machine-to-machine cellular connections and fixed wireless access.

Urban and rural subscriptions

Urban telephone subscriptions stood at 807.78 million, compared with 560.16 million in rural areas. The reported additions were 5.50 million urban subscriptions and 1.73 million rural subscriptions. These figures describe September’s subscriber base; October 27 is the release date.

TRAI reported overall tele-density of 95.52 including machine-to-machine cellular connections, and 85.41 excluding them. The calculation uses population projections from the government’s 2011–2036 projection report published in September 2020. The measure is a subscription-to-population ratio and should not be read as the percentage of individuals owning a phone.

Active connections and portability

Active mobile subscriptions measured on the peak Visitor Location Register date stood at 1,212.80 million. TRAI cautioned that the peak measurement date can differ between providers and service areas. It is not a single-day national headcount.

During September, 16.77 million subscribers submitted mobile number portability requests. These are requests, not a reported count of completed porting transactions. The release is based on information supplied by telecom service providers to TRAI.

Source: TRAI subscription-data release via Ministry of Communications and PIB, October 27, 2026; reference month September 2026.