This is a list of telecom services providing companies in India. These companies are regulated by Department of Telecommunications and TRAI under Ministry of Communications, Government of India.
There are 4 pay-for-use DTH service providers and one free-to-air service provider (DD Free Dish) in India.[1]
As of 31 March 2024, there are 61.97 million active paying DTH subscribers, in addition to the subscribers of state-owned DD Free Dish, in the country according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). DD Free Dish has over 4 crore (40 million) subscribers.
| Operator | Market share | Ownership | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tata Play | 32.53% | Tata Group (50.2%) Disney India (29.8%) Temasek (20%) | |
| Airtel Digital TV | 28.45% | Bharti Airtel (100%) | |
| Dish TV | 20.46% | Publicly Owned | |
| Sun Direct | 18.57% | Sun TV Network (80%) Astro (20%) | |
| DD Free Dish | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India) (100%) |
As of 31 March 2024, there are 880 MSOs (some also have an ISP license).
List of top MSOs by subscribers
| 1 | GTPL Hathway Ltd | 91,07,022 | |
| 2 | Siti Networks Ltd | 53,00,428 | |
| 3 | Hathway Digital Ltd | 52,92,476 | |
| 4 | Thamizhaga Cable TV Communication Pvt Ltd. (TCCL) | 38,13,509 | |
| 5 | Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd (KCCL) | 34,96,432 | |
| 6 | Den Networks Ltd | 34,55,854 | |
| 7 | NXT Digital Ltd (HITS) | 25,79,033 | |
| 8 | KAL Cables | 20,01,969 | |
| 9 | V K Digital Network Pvt. Ltd | 16,03,039 | |
| 10 | Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd (TACTV) | 15,77,636 | |
| 11 | Fastway Transmissions Pvt Ltd | 14,63,512 | |
| 12 | NXT Digital Ltd (CATV) | 12,61,409 |
As of 31st May 2024, there are 1.20 billion wireless subscribers in India according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Over the past decade, the Indian cellular services market has seen rapid consolidation. The launch of Jio Platforms in 2016 changed the market dynamics substantially as the company offered free data and voice services during its first year of operations, prompting a fierce price war in the market. Jio managed to garner over 8 crore (80 million) [3] [4]
In 2018, airtel India lost its market leadership position for the first time in 15 years as a result of the completion of a merger between then telecom giants Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.[5]
| Airtel India (1995) | Airtel (stylised as 'airtel') | 316.52[6] | 313.32 | 5G, 4G, 2G[7] [8] | Bharti Enterprises (66.57)Singtel (32.15) Google (1.28%) | The 'airtel' brand is operated by Bharti Hexacom Limited in Rajasthan and North-East India. Bharti Airtel owns 70% of Bharti Hexacom, while TCIL (Government of India) owns the remaining 30%.[9] Subscriber count and active users include Bharti Hexacom. | |
| BSNL (2000) | CellOne[10] BSNL Mobile | 140.02 | 13.8 | Working on 5G, 4G(limited testing),[11] 3G, 2G[12] | Government of India (100%) | BSNL does not directly operate in Delhi and Mumbai.[13] | |
| MTNL (1986) | Dolphin[14] MTNL Delhi[15] Trump, MTNL Mumbai[16] | 1.94 | 0.50 | 3G, 2G[17] | Government of India (100%) | MTNL only operates in Delhi and Mumbai.[18] MTNL is in the process of being merged with BSNL. The merger is expected to be completed by 2025.[19] Since January 2021, the operations of MTNL's networks have been outsourced to BSNL.[20] | |
| Jio (2016) | Jio | 472.42 | 433.42 | 5G, 4G[21] | Jio Platforms Limited (100%) | Not to be confused with Reliance Communications. | |
| Vodafone Idea Limited (2018) | Vi (stylised as 'V!') | 219.08 | 182.64 | 4G, 2G[22] | Government of India (32.09%) Vodafone Group (31.27%) Aditya Birla Group (17.49%) Private Equity (15.97%) American Tower Corporation (3.18%) | In February 2023, the Government of India converted ₹16,133 crore (~US$1.9 billion) debt owed to it by the operator into equity, after the company opted for the option given to it under a 'telecom reforms package'.[23] |
As of 31 July 2024, 16 mobile operators have ceased operations in India. The longest operating defunct operator is Aircel, while the oldest is Modi-Telstra[24] - which was also the first mobile operator in the country.[25] Most recently, Reliance Communications ceased operations citing bankruptcy.
| Modi Telstra | 1990 | Merged into Axiata Spice Communications[26] | ||
| Escotel | 1996 | Merged into Idea Cellular[27] | ||
| Hutch Essar | 1999 | Acquired by Vodafone to form Vodafone India | ||
| Axiata Spice Communications | 1992 | Merged into Idea Cellular[28] | ||
| S Tel | 2012 | Licence cancelled by the Supreme Court of India | ||
| Etisalat | 2010[29] | 2012 | Licence cancelled by the Supreme Court of India[30] | |
| BPL Mobile (Loop Mobile) | 1995 | 2014 | Ceased operations after expiration of licence[31] | |
| Virgin Mobile India / T24 Mobile | 2009[32] | 2015 | Merged into Tata Docomo [33] | |
| Singtel | 2009 | 2017 | Acquired by Reliance Communications | |
| Videocon Telecom | 2010[34] | 2016 | Shut down following sale of spectrum to Bharti Airtel[35] [36] | |
| MTS India | 2009 | 2017 | Acquired by Reliance Communications[37] | |
| Aircel | 1999 | 2018 | Bankrupt[38] | |
| Telenor India | 2006 | 2018 | Acquired by Bharti Airtel[39] | |
| Idea Cellular | 2002 | 2018 | Merged with Vodafone India to form Vi | |
| Vodafone India | 2011 | 2018 | Merged with Idea Cellular to form Vi[40] [41] | |
| Tata Docomo | 2009 | 2019 | Acquired by Bharti Airtel[42] | |
| Reliance Communications | 2004 | 2019 | Declared bankruptcy, subsequently acquired by Reliance JIO[43] |
As of 30th April 2024, there are 34.26 million wireline subscribers in India according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).[44]
| Operator | Subscribers (lakh) | Ownership | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jio | 120.88 | Jio Platforms | |
| Airtel | 88.96 | Bharti Airtel | |
| BSNL | 70.62 | Government of India | |
| MTNL | 21.62 | Government of India | |
| Tata Teleservices | 23.24 | Tata Group | |
| Vi | 7.9 | Vodafone Idea Limited | |
| Quadrant | 4.14 | ||
| Reliance Communications | 1.28 | Reliance ADAG |
Internet service providers (ISPs) offering broadband (wired + wireless) services. The total number of broadband subscribers stood at 928.41 million as of 30th April 2024.[45] Total Wireless broadband subscribers stood at 866.19 million and wireline broadband subscribers stood at 38.35 million. The top 5 services constituted 98.35% market share of the total broadband subscribers.
As of 30th April 2024, top five Wireless Broadband Service providers
| Operator | Subscribers (million) | Ownership | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jio | 472.42 | Jio Platforms | |
| 267.57 | Bharti Airtel | ||
| 126.43 | Vodafone Idea Limited | ||
| 20.84 | Government of India | ||
| Intech Online Pvt. Ltd | 0.24 |
The following table shows the top 5 wired broadband service providers in India by total subscriber base as of 30th April 2024.
| Provider | Subscribers (million) | Ownership | |
|---|---|---|---|
| JioFiber | 11.62 | Jio Platforms | |
| Airtel | 7.84 | Bharti Airtel | |
| BSNL | 4.14 | Government of India | |
| ACT | 2.25 | Atria Convergence | |
| OneOTT Intertainment | 1.17 | Hinduja Group |
| Provider | Ownership | |
|---|---|---|
| APSFL | Government of Andhra Pradesh | |
| Asianet Broadband | Rajan Raheja Group | |
| DEN Networks | Reliance Industries | |
| Hathway | Reliance Industries | |
| RailTel | Government of India | |
| Sify | Sify Group | |
| Tata Communications | Tata Group | |
| Tata Play | Tata Group (70%) The Walt Disney Company India (30%) | |
| Excitel | Excitel Broadband Pvt. Ltd. |
| CtrlS Datacenters Ltd | CtrlS Labs Limited | |
| ERNET | Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology | |
| GAILTEL | Government of India | |
| National Knowledge Network | Government of India | |
| PowerGrid | Government of India | |
| Tulip Telecom | Tulip Enterprises |
| Name | Headquarters ! | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beetel | Gurgaon | Private | |
| C-DOT | New Delhi | State-owned enterprise | |
| HFCL | New Delhi | Private | |
| Sasken Technologies | Bangalore | Private | |
| Sterlite Technologies | Pune | Private | |
| Tejas Networks | Bangalore | Private | |
| United Telecoms Limited | Bangalore | State-owned enterprise |