List of telecom companies in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Telecom services providing companies in India are regulated by Department of Telecommunications and TRAI which comes under Ministry of Communications, Government of India.
Direct-to-home (DTH) operators
There are 4 pay-for-use DTH service providers and one free-to-air service provider (DD Free Dish) in India.[1]
As of 31.03.2026, there are 49.05 million active DTH subscribers, in addition to the subscribers of state-owned DD Free Dish, in the country according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
- Tata Play (30.9%)
- Airtel Digital TV (28.4%)
- Dish TV (19.1%)
- Sun Direct (21.6%)
| Operator | Market share | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| Tata Play | 30.92% | Tata Group (70%) Disney India (30%) |
| Airtel Digital TV | 28.36% | Bharti Airtel (100%) |
| Dish TV | 19.11% | Publicly owned (95.96%) |
| Sun Direct | 21.61% | Sun TV Network (80%) Astro (20%) |
| DD Free Dish | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (100%) |
Notes
- DD Free Dish is a free-to-air service; hence, their subscriber data is not shown in the TRAI performance report.[1]
Multiple-system operators (MSOs)
As of 31 March 2026, there are 752 MSO and 2 HITS operators
List of top MSOs by subscribers
| No | Operator | Total active subscriber base[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTPL Hathway Ltd | 71,62,192 |
| 2 | Hathway Digital Ltd | 51,74,077 |
| 3 | Siti Networks Ltd | 48,10,710 |
| 4 | Thamizhaga Cable TV Communication Pvt Ltd. (TCCL) | 38,03,451 |
| 5 | Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd (KCCL) | 36,48,628 |
| 6 | Den Networks Ltd | 32,52,764 |
| 7 | NXT Digital Ltd (HITS) | 24,39,067 |
| 8 | KAL Cables | 19,50,373 |
| 9 | V K Digital Network Pvt. Ltd | 15,60,585 |
| 10 | Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd (TACTV) | 14,78,718 |
| 11 | Fastway Transmissions Pvt Ltd | 13,15,751 |
| 12 | NXT Digital Ltd (CATV) | 12,33,233 |
Wireless operators
As of 31.08.2026 there were around 1312.25 million wireless subscribers in India, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).[2]
- Jio (39.3%)
- Airtel (38.0%)
- Vodafone Idea (15.4%)
- BSNL (7.25%)
Mobile operators
Over the past decade,[when?] the Indian cellular services market has seen rapid consolidation. The launch of Jio Platforms in 2016 changed the market dynamics substantially as the company offered free data and voice services during its first year of operations, prompting a fierce price war in the market. Jio managed to garner over 8 crore (80 million) subscribers. In 2018, Airtel India lost its market leadership position for the first time in 15 years as a result of the completion of a merger between then telecom giants Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.
Active operators
| Operator
(estd.) |
Brands | Total subscribers (million) | Active subscribers (million) | Technologies | Ownership | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jio (2016) | Jio | 508.43 | 502.33 | 5G (VoNR), 4G (VoLTE, VoWiFi) | Jio Platforms (100%) | The 'Jio' brand is operated by Reliance Industries. |
| Airtel (1995) | Airtel | 491.60 | 486.76 | 5G(VoNR for postpaid), 4G (VoLTE, VoWiFi), 2G | Bharti Enterprises (66.57)
Singtel (32.15) Alphabet Inc. (1.28%) |
The 'airtel' brand is operated by Bharti Hexacom Limited in Rajasthan and North-East India. Bharti Airtel owns 70% of Bharti Hexacom, while TCIL (Government of India) owns the remaining 30%.[4]
Subscriber count and active users include Bharti Hexacom. |
| Vi (2018) | Vi | 199.57 | 167.32 | 5G (Some Cities), 4G (VoLTE, VoWiFi), 2G[5] | Government of India (49%) Vodafone Group (16%) Aditya Birla Group (9.5%) Public Shareholding (25.5%) |
In February 2023, the Government of India converted ₹16,133 crore (~US$1.9 billion) debt owed to it by the operator into equity, after the company opted for the option given to it under a 'telecom reforms package'.[6] |
| BSNL Mobile (2000) | BSNL | 93.67 | 50.93 | 4G (VoLTE, VoWiFi[7]), 3G,2G | Government of India (100%) | BSNL (VNOs) operates all over India[8]. BSNL has excellent network coverage in many states of India. BSNL is installing more towers to improve network across India.[9] BSNL provides cheapest recharge plans in entire telecom industry. |
Defunct operators
As of 28 September 2026, 17 mobile operators have ceased operations in India. The longest operating defunct operator is MTNL which was also the first mobile operator in the country.[10]
| Operator | Started operations | Ceased operations | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modi Telstra | 1995[11] | 2000 | Merged into Axiata[12] |
| Escotel | 1996 | 2004 | Merged into Idea Cellular[13] |
| S Tel | 2008 | 2012 | Licence cancelled by the Supreme Court of India |
| Etisalat | 2010[14] | 2012 | Licence cancelled by the Supreme Court of India[15] |
| Loop Mobile | 1995 | 2014 | Ceased operations after expiration of licence[16] |
| Virgin Mobile / T24 Mobile | 2009[17] | 2015 | Merged into Tata DoCoMo[18] |
| Axiata | 1995 | 2016 | Merged into Idea Cellular[19] |
| Videocon Telecom | 2010[20] | 2016 | Shut down following sale of spectrum to Bharti Airtel[21][22] |
| Singtel | 2009 | 2017 | Acquired by Airtel |
| MTS | 2009 | 2017 | Acquired by Reliance Communications[23] |
| Aircel | 1999 | 2018 | Bankrupt[24] |
| Telenor | 2006 | 2018 | Acquired by Airtel[25] |
| Idea Cellular | 2002 | 2018 | Merged with Vodafone India to form Vodafone Idea[26][27] |
| Vodafone India | 2011 | 2018 | Merged with Idea Cellular to form Vodafone Idea[26][27] |
| Tata DoCoMo | 2009 | 2019 | Acquired by Bharti Airtel[28] |
| Reliance Communications | 2004 | 2018 | Declared bankruptcy, subsequently acquired by Jio[29] |
| MTNL | 1986 | 2025 | Merged into BSNL[10] |
Wireline operators
Fixed-line operators
As of 31.08.2026, there are 48.48 million wireline subscribers in India according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).[2]
- Jio (33.0%)
- Airtel (25.4%)
- BSNL (13.7%)
- Tata Teleservices (23.0%)
- MTNL (2.17%)
- Others (2.66%)
The number of subscribers of all 10 companies are tabulated as follows:
| Operator | Subscribers[1] (lakh) | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| Jio | 159.79 | Jio Platforms |
| Airtel | 122.85 | Bharti Airtel |
| Tata Teleservices | 112.02 | Tata Group |
| BSNL | 66.50 | Government of India |
| MTNL | 10.50 | Government of India |
| Vi | 7.54 | Vodafone Group |
| APSFL | 0.78 | Government of Andhra Pradesh |
| Quadrant | 3.24 | Videocon Telecom |
| Reliance Communications | 0.75 | Reliance Group |
| STPL | 0.58 | Sudhana Telecommunications Private Limited |
Internet service providers (ISPs)
Internet service providers (ISPs) offering broadband (wired + wireless) services. The total number of broadband subscribers stood at 1101.21 million as of 31.08.2026.[30][31] Total Wireless broadband subscribers stood at 1052.58 million and wireline broadband subscribers stood at 48.63 million.[3]
As of 31.08.2026, the top five wired + wireless broadband service providers which have market share of 98.58% is as follows:
| Operator | Subscribers[31] (million) | Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| Jio | 538.03 | Jio Platforms |
| Airtel | 386.39 | Bharti Airtel |
| Vi | 130.88 | Vodafone Group |
| BSNL | 27.82 | Government of India |
| Atria Convergence Technologies Limited | 2.48 |
Other notable ISPs
| Provider | Ownership |
|---|---|
| Apsfl | Government of Andhra Pradesh |
| Asianet Broadband | Rajan Raheja Group |
| Kerala Vision Broadband | Kerala Communicatiors Cable Limited (KCCL) |
| Den Networks | Reliance Industries |
| Hathway | Reliance Industries |
| Railtel | Government of India |
| Sify | Sify Group |
| Tata Play Fiber | Tata Group (70%) Disney India (30%) |
| Excitel |
For enterprise/wholesale only
| Provider | Ownership |
|---|---|
| CtrlS Datacenters | CtrlS Labs |
| ERNET | Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology |
| Gailtel | Government of India |
| National Knowledge Network (for educational institutions only) |
Government of India |
| Powertel | Government of India |
| Tulip Telecom | Tulip Enterprises |
Telecom R&D firms
| Name | Headquarters | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Beetel | Gurugram | Private |
| C-DOT | New Delhi | State-owned enterprise |
| HFCL | Gurugram | Private |
| Sasken Technologies | Bengaluru | Private |
| Sterlite Technologies | Pune | Private |
| Tejas Networks | Bengaluru | Private |
| UTL | Bengaluru | State-owned enterprise |