TRAI: India Recorded 1 Billion Active Mobile Subscribers In December

Last Updated on February 26, 2022 by Anu Joy

According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India has recorded a billion active mobile subscriptions in December 2021. The number of mobile users in the country broke the 1 billion mark in 2016, which was 4 years late compared to China. According to the report, Airtel proved to be the biggest player by registering the highest maximum proportion of active wireless subscribers at 98 percent. On the other hand, MTNL had the lowest proportion at 18.58 percent during the very same period.

As of December 2021, the total number of mobile subscriptions in India was 1.155 billion, while the total number of active mobile subscribers on a given day in December was 1 billion. This is not to be confused with the number of smartphone users, as it is estimated that India will get 1 billion smartphone users by the year 2026.

The report also sheds some light on the total number of wireless subscribers in the country, and that number stood at 1,155 million till December, with a 12.88-million drop in subscriptions. Apart from this, there were 633 million mobile users in urban areas with a teledensity of 132.68 percent. On the other hand, rural areas accounted for 521 million mobile subscribers with a teledensity of 58.28 percent. In the same month, a total of 8.54 million subscribers requested mobile number portability (MNP).

Another insight from the report pointed to Reliance Jio having the highest share of subscribers at 36 percent, with Airtel coming in at second place with a share of 30.8 percent, while Vodafone Idea and BSNL commanded 23 percent and 9.9 percent market share, respectively. This report comes amidst growing talks of pushing 5G within the next two years. All major telcos are conducting preliminary tests, which appear to be promising.