As per the data provided by the Ministry of Communication, India has witnessed growth in its broadband connections while a decline in wireless connections. 

Broadband Subscribers 

The data showed a growth of 0.32% in August, taking the figure of broadband subscribers to 949.21 Million as compared to 946.19 in July. The growth is primarily driven by the increasing demand for high-speed internet across rural and urban settings. 

The top 5 broadband service providers remain Reliance, Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL & Atria with 51.13%, 29.98%, 13.27%, 3.81%, and 0.24% respectively. 

Wireline Subscribers 

The Overall Wireline Tele-density in India increased from 2.53% at the end of July to 2.58% at the end of August 24.  The net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.67 million with a monthly growth of 1.90%. While the private sector has 75.43% of this market, Govt PSUs capture 24.57% of the market. 

The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers stands at 92.09% and 7.91%
respectively at the end of August 2024.

Wireless Subscribers 

Total wireless subscribers decreased from 1,169.61 million at the end of July-24, to 1,163.83 million at the end of August-24, thereby registering a monthly decline of 0.49%. Wireless subscriptions in urban areas decreased from 635.46 million on July 24 to 633.21 million on August 24. The same trend is observed in the rural areas too as wireless subscriptions in rural areas also decreased from 534.15 million to 530.63 million during the same period. 

As of 31 August 2024, the private access service providers held a 92% market share of the wireless subscribers whereas BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, had a market share of only 8%.

Overall Tele-density 

The overall Tele-density in India decreased from 85.85% at the end of Jul-24 to 85.43% at the end of Aug-24. The Urban Tele-density decreased from 133.42% at the end of Jul-24 to 132.94% at the end of Aug-24 and Rural Tele-density also decreased from 59.48% to 59.05% during the same period. The share of urban and rural subscribers in the total number of telephone subscribers at the end of August 24 was 55.54% and 44.46% respectively.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

On August 24, a total of 14.66 million requests were received for MNP. The cumulative MNP requests increased from 1011.13 million at the end of July-24 to 1025.78 million at the end of August-24, since the implementation of MNP.