NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) added 1.3 million new mobile customers in August 2025 — marking its first significant growth in subscriber base in over a year. The last time BSNL recorded a net addition was in March 2025, when it added around 50,000 users.
Interestingly, BSNL began registering subscriber growth in July 2024, coinciding with tariff hikes by private telecom operators such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.
Between July and October 2024, BSNL added a total of 6.78 million users, with 2.93 million added in July, 2.5 million in August, 0.85 million in September, and 0.5 million in October. However, this growth phase was followed by a series of monthly losses, with the company losing around 0.34 million subscribers in November and 0.32 million in December 2024. The downward trend continued into 2025, as BSNL lost 0.37 million users in January and 0.57 million in February. A marginal gain of 0.05 million in March was followed by a stronger recovery: 0.16 million new subscribers were added in April, 1.35 million in May, 0.6 million in June (estimated), and 0.1 million in July.
The recent resurgence in BSNL’s subscriber base is believed to be driven by its partial 4G rollout and a focused push into rural markets. According to the company, it has deployed approximately 95,000 4G towers across the country as part of its expansion efforts.
Reliance Jio continues to lead the Indian telecom market, adding 1.949 million (19.49 lakh) wireless subscribers in August 2025. However, the company saw a 1.551 million (15.51 lakh) decline in wireline subscribers during the same month. With a 41.08% market share in mobile services, Jio remains the key growth driver in the sector and a bellwether for telecom investors.
Bharti Airtel reported a net addition of 496,000 (4.96 lakh) mobile subscribers in August 2025.
Vodafone Idea, meanwhile, continued to lose ground, shedding 309,000 (3.09 lakh) mobile users during the month, staying in negative territory.
