For a more comprehensive list of mobile phone operators, see Mobile country codes.
This is a list of the world's 25 largest terrestrial mobile phone network operators measured by number of subscriptions.
Rank | Company | Main markets | Technology | Total subscriptions (in millions) | Ownership (100% ownership unless stated otherwise) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() Communications Corporation | ![]() ![]() ![]() | 1003.9 [1] (September 2024) | Government of the People's Republic of China (74.25%) Public stock (25.75%) | |
2 | ![]() | List
| 563.2 [2] (September 2024) | Bharti Enterprises (66.57%) Singtel (32.15%) Google (1.28%) | |
3 | ![]() | ![]() | List
| 477.50 [3] (July 2025) | Jio Platforms |
4 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 423.4 [4] (September 2024) | China Telecommunications Corporation (State Owned) (70.89%) | |
5 | ![]() | ![]() | 345.0 [5] (September 2024) | China Unicom Limited (40.92%) China Netcom Group (29.49%) Telefónica (0.6%) | |
6 | ![]() | List
| 310.0 [6] (May 2024) | ||
7 | ![]() | List
| 315.8 [7] (September 2024) | Helu Slim (36.50%) Carlos Slim (6.84%) Public stock (56.66%) | |
8 | ![]() | List
| 305.3 [8] (December 2024) | Public stock (77%) Government of France (23%) | |
9 | ![]() | 270.5 [9] (May 2025) | |||
10 | ![]() | List
| 288.0 [10] (September 2024) | Public stock (60.02%) Government Employees Pension Fund (25.33%) M1 (10.05%) | |
11 | ![]() | List
| 258.8 [11] (September 2024) | Free float (68.1%) Federal Republic of Germany (31.9%) | |
12 | ![]() | ![]() | 203.86 [12] (July 2025) | Government of India (49.8%) Vodafone Group Plc (23.2%) Aditya Birla Group (9.85%) | |
13 | ![]() | List
| 162.5 [13] (December 2023) | Public stock (54.91%) Government of Malaysia (45.09%) | |
14 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 159.3 [14] (December 2023) | Telkom Indonesia (65%) Singtel (35%) | |
15 | ![]() Group Company PJSC (Etisalat) | List
| 159 [15] (2021) | Emirates Investment Authority (60.03%) Public stock (39.97%) | |
16 | ![]() | List
| 153.9 [16] (December 2024) | Letterone Investment Holdings S.A. (45.5%) The Stichting Administratiekantoor Mobile Telecommunications Investor (7.9%) Lingotto Investment Management LLP (7.8%) Shah Capital Management Inc. (6.7%) [17] | |
17 | ![]() | 149.4 [18] (Q3 2024) | Government of Qatar | ||
18 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() | 146 [19] (December 2024) | Verizon Communications | |
19 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 139.0 [20] (September 2024) | Institutional Shares (59.28%) Vanguard Group Inc (14.12%) Blackrock Inc (11.49%) [21] | |
20 | ![]() | 138.31 [22] (Q3 2024) | Government of Norway (53.97%) Public stock (41.74%) The Government Pension Fund of Norway (4.79%) | ||
21 | ![]() | 110.0 [23] (Q1 2022) | Government of Vietnam | ||
22 | ![]() | ![]() | 90.36 [24] (July 2025) [Note 1] | Government of India | |
23 | ![]() | ![]() | 89.9 [25] (Q1 2024) | Nippon Telegraph and Telephone | |
24 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 87.60 [26] (Q3 2024) | Sistema (50.8%) | |
25 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() | 77.26 [27] (Q2 2024) | AF Telecom Holding LLC (56.32%) USM Telecom LLC (43.68%) |
This is a list of the world's five largest satellite phone network operators measured by number of subscribers.
Rank | Operator | Technology | Subscribers (in millions) | Ownership |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Iridium | Proprietary TDMA | 0.824 (June 2016) [28] | |
2 | Globalstar | Proprietary CDMA | 0.638 (March 2015) [29] | |
3 | Thuraya | Proprietary FDMA/GSM | 0.260 (December 2007) [30] | Etisalat (28%) |
4 | Inmarsat | Proprietary GSM | 0.254 (September 2009) [31] | |
5 | ACeS | Dual-mode Satellite/GSM | 0.020 (December 2007) |
For a more comprehensive list of mobile phone operators, see Mobile country codes.