Summary:
Spanish satellite IoT provider Sateliot has established an Indian subsidiary to expand into the country’s growing satellite IoT market, identifying India as a key strategic market. The company sees strong opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, transport, mining, and utilities, particularly in remote areas lacking terrestrial connectivity. In its recommendations to TRAI, Sateliot called for a dedicated regulatory framework for narrowband satellite IoT, advocating proportionate spectrum pricing, service-specific regulations, transparent spectrum access, and fair compliance rules to promote innovation, competition, and improved last-mile connectivity.
India’s telecom subscriber base recorded a modest increase to 134.8 crore in June, supported mainly by customer additions from Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, according to the latest subscriber statistics released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday.
Bharti Airtel emerged as the top performer during the month, registering a net gain of 31.63 lakh subscribers. This included 29.89 lakh new wireless users and 1.73 lakh additions in the wireline segment.
Reliance Jio ranked second, reporting a net increase of 22.91 lakh subscribers, comprising 21.46 lakh mobile connections and 1.44 lakh fixed-line customers.
Combined, Airtel and Jio contributed 54.54 lakh of the overall 62 lakh net subscriber additions in June, accounting for nearly 87% of the month’s total growth.
According to TRAI’s June 2026 subscriber report, the country’s total telephone subscriber base rose from 1,343.1 million at the end of May to 1,348.08 million by the end of June, reflecting a month-on-month growth of 0.37%.
The total wireless subscriber base increased from 129.4 crore in May to 130 crore in June. This total included 114.7 crore consumer mobile connections, 13.47 crore machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, and 1.78 crore fixed wireless access (FWA) subscribers.
Vodafone Idea registered a net addition of 1.63 lakh wireless subscribers during the month, while state-owned BSNL added 94,006 mobile users. In contrast, MTNL’s mobile subscriber base declined by 11,284 connections.
The wireline segment, however, recorded a 1.67% monthly decline, with total subscribers falling from 4.86 crore in May to 4.78 crore in June. The decrease was primarily due to BSNL losing nearly 7.96 lakh fixed-line subscribers.
Only Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and STPL reported growth in wireline connections, whereas Vodafone Idea, MTNL, APSFL, Tata Teleservices, Quadrant, and other operators witnessed a decline.
TRAI also reported continued growth in broadband services. Based on data submitted by 1,580 service providers, the country’s broadband subscriber base increased from 108 crore in May to 108.75 crore in June.
Reliance Jio remained the largest broadband provider with 53.22 crore subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 37.99 crore. Vodafone Idea had 13 crore broadband subscribers, BSNL served 2.7 crore users, and Atria Convergence reported 24.5 lakh subscribers.
