India is the world's second-largest telecommunications market. As of March 2025, tele-density stood at 85.04%.

In India, the total telephone subscriber base stood at 1,200.80 million as on March 31, 2025.

India’s total number of internet subscribers grew marginally to 944.12 million at the end of March 2025, marking a 0.09% increase from 944.04 million in Feb, revealed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

According to Counterpoint Research, 5G smartphones are gaining traction across various price segments in India, with the country now ranking as the world’s second-largest market for 5G devices. India trails only China, which leads with a 32% global market share, while India holds a 13% share. The US has dropped to third place with a 10% market share.

India's smartphone market experienced a growth of 3% YoY in volume during Q3 2024, with its value surging by 12% YoY to reach a record high for a single quarter, according to a report by research firm Counterpoint.

India’s 5G subscriber base is expected to grow 2.65 times, reaching 770 million by CY28, up from 290 million in CY24, according to Nokia’s annual Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT) report.

Union Minister of Communications Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated Bharat Telecom 2025 in New Delhi, highlighting India's growing role as a global telecom exporter and innovation hub.

In the Union Budget FY26 the Department of Telecommunications and IT was allocated Rs. 81,005.24 crore (US$ 9.27 billion).

The wireless segment accounted for 96.9% of the total telephone subscriptions in March 2025.

TeamLease projects an annual growth rate of 9-10% in the broadband market over the next few years, leading to the emergence of new job roles in sales, installation, network maintenance, and customer support.

As of March 2025, the wireless subscribers base stood at 1,163.76 million.

As of March 2025, the wireless subscriber base of Jio stood at 476.58 million, followed by Bharti Airtel 289.31 million, Vodafone Idea 126.41 million, and BSNL 34.57 million.

Total broadband subscriptions in the country grew from 149.75 million in CY16 to 944.96 million in CY24.

Wired broadband subscribers stood at 41.19 million as of December 2024.

The number of internet subscribers in the country increased from 944.12 million at the end of March’25. Out of 944.12 million internet subscribers, number of Wired Internet subscribers are 41.39 million and number of Wireless Internet subscribers are 902.74 million.

Airtel Payments Bank surpassed one billion transactions in January 2025, reflecting a 47% YoY growth in transaction volume. The achievement highlights the increasing adoption of digital banking solutions and the bank's diverse business model.

The telecom industry recorded 6.75% sequential growth in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) at Rs. 75,310 crore (US$ 8.91 billion) in the Q2 FY25 as tariff increases and robust data usage outweighed tepid subscriber additions.

Independent telecom tower companies are expected to spend Rs 21,000 crore (US$ 2.42 billion) for the period between FY25 and FY26 in order to support the telecom companies in expanding rural networks and also improving service quality in urban areas, stated a report by CRISIL Ratings.

Bharti Airtel has become the first private telecom operator to launch mobile services in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Bengaluru-based gear maker Tejas Networks has won a three-year deal from Vodafone Idea (Vi) to supply backhaul equipment for India's third-largest telecom operator's 4G and commercial fifth-generation or 5G networks.

India is also the second-largest country in terms of internet subscribers. Indians downloaded over 28 billion apps on their mobiles in 2022 and accounted for 5% of the 625 billion downloads globally.

FDI inflow in the telecom sector stood at Rs. 2,40,777 crore (US$ 40.03 billion) between April 2000- December 2024.

To make India 5G-ready, there's a push for fiberisation of telecom towers. Currently, 36% of towers are fiberized, and plans involve deploying 12 lakh towers.

The CCI has granted approval for Data infrastructure trust to acquire 100% of the share capital of ATC telecom infrastructure Private Limited, along with certain related transactions.

India's Bharat 6G alliance and the European telecom industry organization Industry are planning to establish a partnership. This partnership will facilitate cooperation between the two groups in the development of 6G technology.

In May 2023, STT GDC invested Rs. 2,000 crore (US$ 242.33 million) in two more data centres in Pune.

As of March 2023, Jio partnered with EESL to provide 1 million smart prepaid meters in Bihar.

In February 2022, Bharti Airtel acquired 10% strategic stake in a Singapore-based start-up, Aqilliz.

According to a Zenith Media survey, India is expected to become the fastest-growing telecom advertisement market, with an annual growth rate of 11% between 2020 and 2023.

The Government of India, through its National Digital Communications Policy, foresee investment worth US$ 100 billion in the telecommunications sector by 2022. The government is encouraging global telecom network manufacturers such as Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and Huawei to manufacture all their equipment in India with 100% local products. The Rs. 12,195 crore (US$ 1.65 billion) production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme already triggered the entry of several global players manufacturing mobile devices and components. European telecom gear vendors like Ericsson and Nokia are eager to expand their existing operations in India for a global supply chain under the PLI scheme. Similarly, global vendors like Samsung, Cisco, Ciena, Jabil, Foxconn, Sanmina, and Flex have shown interest in setting up manufacturing in India for telecom and networking products under the newly announced PLI scheme.

As of March 2023, the PLI scheme for Large-Scale Electronics Manufacturing (LSEM) attracted investment of Rs. 5,998 crore (US$ 726.77 million) and led to a total production of Rs. 2,76,903 crore (US$ 33.55 billion), including exports of Rs. 1,28,886 crore (US$ 15.61 billion).

Note: F- Forecast, PB - Petabytes