India's 5G user base hits 365 million mark

India’s telecommunications sector has reached a major milestone with 365 million 5G subscribers as of July 2025, reflecting 35.00% penetration within three years of the technology’s launch. According to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), the rapid adoption of 5G has significantly altered consumer data consumption patterns, with monthly usage now averaging 18-55 GB, up from 6-11 GB in 2018-19. The surge underscores the changing behaviour of Indian users, with all three major private telecom operators reporting consistent quarterly increases since 5G deployment began. Broadband services have also grown rapidly, adding over 4.20 million subscribers in both June and July 2025, outpacing the total industry subscriber growth of 1-2.50 million during the same period. This momentum pushed broadband penetration to 80.10% by July 2025, compared with 77.30% a year earlier.
Despite tariff hikes introduced by most operators in mid-2024, India’s combined wireless and wired subscriber base rose to 1.22 billion in July 2025 from 1.20 billion a year earlier. The wireless user base remained steady YoY at 1.172 billion, though monthly growth has been consistent since December 2024. Among the top three players, subscriber additions at Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel offset losses at Vodafone Idea. Active subscribers, measured through visitor location registers, increased 2% annually to over 1.08 billion, lifting the active user ratio to 93.10% from 90.60% in the previous year. Ind-Ra noted that this improvement was largely driven by a 5.80% YoY rise in active subscribers at Reliance Jio and 1.30% at Bharti Airtel, more than compensating for the decline in Vodafone Idea’s base.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.