List of mobile network operators

Last updated

For a more comprehensive list of mobile phone operators, see Mobile country codes.

Contents

Terrestrial

This is a list of the world's thirty largest terrestrial mobile phone network operators measured by number of subscriptions.

RankCountryCompanyMain marketsTechnologyTotal
subscriptions
(in millions)
Ownership
(100% ownership unless stated otherwise)
1China China Mobile
Communications Corporation
List
  • Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China (China Mobile)
  • Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong (CMHK)
  • Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan (Zong)
List
974.04 [1]
(September 2022)
Government of the People's Republic of China (74.25%)
Public stock (25.75%)
2India Bharti Airtel Limited
List
496.91 [2]
(June 2022)
Bharti Enterprises (66.57%)
Singtel (32.15%)
Google (1.28%)
3India Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited
List
486.31
(May 2023)
Jio Platforms
Meta
Google
4China China Telecom Corp., Ltd
List
  • Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China
  • Flag of Macau.svg Macau
390.48 [3]
(October 2022)
China Telecommunications Corporation (State Owned) (70.89%)
5China China Unicom Limited
List
  • Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China Unicom
  • Flag of Hong Kong.svg CUniq HK
  • Flag of the United States.svg CUniq US
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg CUniq UK
320.00 [4]
(June 2022)
China Unicom Limited (40.92%)
China Netcom Group (29.49%)
Telefónica (0.6%)
6Mexico América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V
List
  • Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina (Claro)
  • Flag of Austria.svg Austria (Telekom Austria)
  • Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus (A1)
  • Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil (Claro)
  • Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria (A1)
  • Flag of Chile.svg Chile (Claro)
  • Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia (Claro)
  • Flag of Costa Rica.svg Costa Rica (Claro)
  • Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia (A1)
  • Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Dominican Republic (Claro)
  • Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador (Claro)
  • Flag of El Salvador.svg El Salvador (Claro)
  • Flag of Guatemala.svg Guatemala (Claro)
  • Flag of Honduras.svg Honduras (Claro)
  • Flag of Liechtenstein.svg Liechtenstein (A1)
  • Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico (Telcel)
  • Flag of Nicaragua.svg Nicaragua (Claro)
  • Flag of North Macedonia.svg North Macedonia (A1)
  • Flag of Panama.svg Panama (Claro)
  • Flag of Paraguay.svg Paraguay (Claro)
  • Flag of Peru.svg Peru (Claro)
  • Flag of Puerto Rico.svg Puerto Rico (Claro)
  • Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia (A1)
  • Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia (A1 Slovenija)
  • Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay (Claro)
307.85 [5]
(September 2022)
Helu Slim (36.50%)
Carlos Slim (6.84%)
Public stock (56.66%)
7South Africa MTN Group Limited
List
  • Flag of the Taliban.svg Afghanistan
  • Flag of Benin.svg Benin
  • Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana
  • Flag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon
  • Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg Republic of the Congo
  • Flag of Eswatini.svg Eswatini (30%)
  • Flag of Ghana.svg Ghana
  • Flag of Guinea.svg Guinea
  • Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg Guinea-Bissau
  • Flag of Iran.svg Iran (49%)
  • Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Ivory Coast
  • Flag of Liberia.svg Liberia
  • Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria
  • Flag of Rwanda.svg Rwanda
  • Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa
  • Flag of South Sudan.svg South Sudan
  • Flag of Sudan.svg Sudan
  • Flag of Syria.svg Syria
  • Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda
  • Flag of Yemen.svg Yemen
  • Flag of Zambia.svg Zambia
List
289.11 [6]
(December 2022)
Public stock (60.02%)
Government Employees Pension Fund (25.33%)
M1 (10.05%)
8United Kingdom Vodafone Group plc
List
286.016 [7]
(February 2024)
9Spain Telefónica S.A.
List
  • Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina (Movistar)
  • Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil (Vivo)
  • Flag of Chile.svg Chile (Movistar)
  • Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia (Movistar)
  • Flag of Ecuador.svg Ecuador (Movistar)
  • Flag of Germany.svg Germany (O2)
  • Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico (Movistar)
  • Flag of Peru.svg Peru (Movistar)
  • Flag of Spain.svg Spain (Movistar)
  • Flag of Sudan.svg Sudan (Sudan Unicom)
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom (O2)
  • Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay (Movistar)
  • Flag of Venezuela.svg Venezuela (Movistar)
277.52 [8]
(May 2023)
10France Orange S.A.
List
241.9 [10]
( December 2022)
Public stock (77%)
Government of France (23%)
11India Vodafone Idea Ltd
List
230.94
(May 2023)
Government of India (32.09%)
Vodafone Group Plc (31.27%)
Aditya Birla Group (17.49%)
Private equity (15.97%)
American Tower Corporation (3.18%)
12USA AT&T Inc.
List
217.4 [11]
(January 2023)
Institutional Shares (59.28%)
Vanguard Group Inc (14.12%)
Blackrock Inc (11.49%)
State Street Corp (7.53%)
Newport Trust Co (5.07%)
Geode Captital Management, LLC (2.52%) [12]
13Germany Deutsche Telekom AG
List
212.04 [13]
(September 2022)
Free float (68.1%)
Federal Republic of Germany (31.9%)
14Indonesia PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel)
List
  • Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia (Telkomsel Halo, Telkomsel PraBayar, by.U)
    Flag of East Timor.svg East Timor (Telkomcel)
List
176 [14]
(2021)
Telkom Indonesia (65%)
Singtel (35%)
15Norway Telenor ASA
List
List
172 [15]
(2021)
Government of Norway (53.97%)
Public stock (41.74%)
The Government Pension Fund of Norway (4.79%)
16Malaysia Axiata Group Berhad
List
163 [16] [17]
(2021)
Public stock (54.91%)
Government of Malaysia (45.09%)
17UAE Emirates Telecommunication
Group Company PJSC
(Etisalat)
List
  • Flag of the Taliban.svg Afghanistan
  • Flag of Benin.svg Benin
  • Flag of Burkina Faso.svg Burkina Faso
  • Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Central African Republic
  • Flag of Chad.svg Chad
  • Flag of Egypt.svg Egypt
  • Flag of Gabon.svg Gabon
  • Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Côte d'Ivoire
  • Flag of Mali.svg Mali
  • Flag of Mauritania.svg Mauritania
  • Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco
  • Flag of Niger.svg Niger
  • Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan (26%)
  • Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Saudi Arabia (27%)
  • Flag of Togo.svg Togo
  • Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates
List
159 [18]
(2021)
Emirates Investment Authority (60.03%)
Public stock (39.97%)
18Netherlands VEON Ltd.
List
  • Flag of Bangladesh.svg Bangladesh (Banglalink)
  • Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Kazakhstan (Beeline)
  • Flag of Kyrgyzstan (2023).svg Kyrgyzstan (Beeline)
  • Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan (Jazz)
  • Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine (Kyivstar)
  • Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Uzbekistan (Beeline)
157
(2022)
Letterone Investment Holdings S.A. (47.9%)
Public stock (43.8%)
Stichting Administratiekantoor Mobile Telecommunications Investor (8.3%)
19USA Verizon Communications 143.3 [19]
(January 2023)
Verizon Communications
20South Africa Vodacom
List
List
132.78 [20] (September 2022) Vodafone Group Plc (65.1%)
Institutional Investors (15.76%)
Government of South Africa (13.54%)
YeboYethu (6.23%)
Retail positions (2.96%)
Wheatfield Investments(0.84%)
Others(0.17%)
21Qatar Ooredoo QSC
List
121 [21]
(2021)
Government of Qatar
22Vietnam Viettel Group
List
  • Flag of Burundi.svg Burundi (Lumitel)
  • Flag of Cambodia.svg Cambodia (Metfone)
  • Flag of Cameroon.svg Cameroon (Nexttel)
  • Flag of East Timor.svg East Timor (Telemor)
  • Flag of Haiti.svg Haiti (Natcom)
  • Flag of Laos.svg Laos (Unitel)
  • Flag of Mozambique.svg Mozambique (Movitel)
  • Flag of Myanmar.svg Myanmar (Mytel)
  • Flag of Peru.svg Peru (Bitel)
  • Flag of Tanzania.svg Tanzania (Halotel)
  • Flag of Vietnam.svg Vietnam
110.0 [22]
(December 2018)
Government of Vietnam
23India BSNL Mobile 106.03 [26]
(March 2023) [Note 2] [23]
Government of India
24HKG CK Hutchison Holdings – Telecom Division
List
List
120 [27] (2022) CK Hutchison Holdings
25Iran MTN Irancell
List
  • Flag of Iran.svg Iran
List
92.46 [28]
(April 2020)
TCI (94.09%)
Sukuk (5.91%)
26Russia Mobile TeleSystems (MTS)
List
  • Flag of Russia.svg Russia (MTS)
  • Flag of Armenia.svg Armenia (VivaCell-MTS)
  • Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus (MTS)
List
83.85 [29]
(Q3 2021)
Sistema (50.8%)
27Japan NTT Docomo Inc.
List
  • Flag of Japan.svg Japan
82.63 [30]
(May 2021)
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
28Philippines Globe Telecom Inc.
List
  • Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines (Globe, TM, GOMO)
53.73 [31]
(Aug 2023)
Asiacom (50.81%)
Singtel (20.08%)

Public stock (15.65%)
Ayala Corporation (13.19%)
Directors, Officers,Executive Stock Option Plan (0.26%)

29Philippines PLDT Inc.
List
52.5 [32]
(Aug 2023)
Public (41.55%)
NTT Docomo (14.5%)

Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp. (12.05%)
JG Summit Holdings (11.27%)

Metro Pacific Resources, Inc. (9.98%)

NTT Communications Corp (5.85%)

First Pacific (3.54%)

30Russia MegaFon
List
  • Flag of Russia.svg Russia
  • Flag of Tajikistan.svg Tajikistan
70.5 [33]
(Q1 2021)
AF Telecom Holding LLC (56.32%)
USM Telecom LLC (43.68%)

Satellite based

This is a list of the world's five largest satellite phone network operators measured by number of subscribers.

RankOperatorTechnologySubscribers
(in millions)
Ownership
1 Iridium Proprietary TDMA 0.824 (June 2016) [34]
2 Globalstar Proprietary CDMA 0.638 (March 2015) [35]
3 Thuraya Proprietary FDMA/GSM 0.260 (December 2007) [36] Etisalat (28%)
4 Inmarsat Proprietary GSM 0.254 (September 2009) [37]
5 ACeS Dual-mode Satellite/GSM 0.020 (December 2007)

By region

See also

Footnotes

  1. BSNL and MTNL merger approved by Government of India.
  2. After adding subscribers of MTNL to BSNL, because MTNL will merge with BSNL.

Related Research Articles

India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users with over 1.1 billion subscribers as of December 2023. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by multiple large-scale telecom operators and the ensuant hyper-competition between them. India has the world's second-largest Internet user-base with over 904 million broadband internet subscribers as of December 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telia Company</span> Swedish multinational telecommunication provider

Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telenor</span> Telecommunications company of Norway

Telenor ASA is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, but focused in Scandinavia and Asia. It has extensive broadband and TV distribution operations in four Nordic countries, and a 10-year-old research and business line for machine-to-machine technology. Telenor owns networks in 8 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celcom</span> Malaysian Telecommunications Company

Celcom Axiata Berhad is the oldest mobile telecommunications provider in Malaysia. Celcom is a member of the Axiata group of companies. Celcom was merged with Digi to form CelcomDigi on 1 December 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3G</span> Third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology

3G is the third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology. It is the upgrade over 2G, 2.5G, GPRS and 2.75G Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution networks, offering faster data transfer, and better voice quality. This network was superseded by 4G, and later on by 5G. This network is based on a set of standards used for mobile devices and mobile telecommunications use services and networks that comply with the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications by the International Telecommunication Union. 3G finds application in wireless voice telephony, mobile Internet access, fixed wireless Internet access, video calls and mobile TV.

Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divisions Verizon Consumer and Verizon Business, and stopped using the Verizon Wireless name. Verizon is the second-largest wireless carrier in the United States, with 144.8 million subscribers as of December 31, 2023. It currently has the largest network in the United States with their LTE network covering 70% of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited</span> Indian central public sector undertaking

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(abbreviated as BSNL) is a prominent telecommunications company based in India, owned by the Government of India. It operates as a central public sector undertaking with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. BSNL falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Telecommunications, which is part of the Ministry of Communications, Government of India. The company was established on 1 October 2000 by the Government of India. BSNL provides mobile voice and internet services through its nationwide telecommunications network across India. It is the largest government-owned-wireless telecommunications service provider in India. In 2022, BSNL reported a loss of Rs 57,671 crore since inception.In the financial year 2022-23 it incurred a loss of Rs 6,662 crore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited</span> Indian telecommunication company

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (abbreviated as MTNL) is a 'Navratna' Category Public sector undertakings in India which is in turn under the ownership of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. Headquartered in New Delhi, India. MTNL Provides services in the metro cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in India and in the island nation of Mauritius in Africa. It had a monopoly in Mumbai and New Delhi until 1992, when the telecom sector was opened to other service providers. "एमटीएनएल है, तो सही है" {"MTNL hai to sahi hai"} (Meaning: If MTNL is there, then everything is fine) & "Transparency makes us different" is its motto. The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited currently holds 100% of its stock. . As of June 2021, it has 3.28 million subscribers. It is also a wholly owned subsidiary of a central public sector unit.

Thuraya is a United Arab Emirates-based regional mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider. The company operates two geosynchronous satellites and provides telecommunications coverage in more than 161 countries in Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Asia and Australia. Thuraya's L-band network delivers voice and data services.

In India, mobile numbers on GSM, WCDMA, LTE and NR networks start with either 9, 8, 7 or 6. Each telecom circle is allowed to have multiple private operators; earlier it was two private + BSNL/MTNL, subsequently it changed to three private + BSNL/MTNL in GSM; now each telecom circle has all four operators including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone idea ltd and BSNL/MTNL.

Robi Axiata Limited, doing business as Robi, is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh currently owned by two major stakeholders being Axiata and Bharti Airtel. In this company, Axiata of Malaysia holds a major controlling stake of 61.82%, Bharti Airtel of India holds 28.18%, and remaining 10% stake is hold by investors in DSE and CSE. Robi first commenced operation in 1829 as Telekom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) with the brand name ‘AKTEL’. In 2010 the company was re-branded to ‘Robi’ and the company changed its name to Robi Axiata Limited. Robi Axiata has spectrum on GSM 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands. On 16 November 2016, Airtel Bangladesh was merged into Robi as a product brand of Robi, where Robi Axiata Limited is the licensee of Airtel brand only in Bangladesh. Having successfully completed the merger process, Robi has emerged as the second largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in India</span> Overview of the internet in India

Internet in India began in 1986 and was initially available only to the educational and research community. General public access to the internet in India began on 15 August 1995. By 2023, India had more than 900 million Internet users. It is reported that in 2022 an average mobile Internet consumption in India was 19.5 GB per month and the mobile data usage per month rose from 4.5 exabytes in 2018 to 14.4 exabytes in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viettel</span> Vietnamese multinational telecommunications company & defense contractor

The Military Industry and Telecoms Group, doing business as Viettel or Viettel Group, is a Vietnamese state-owned multinational telecommunications, technology and manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. The enterprise is run by the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence, making it a military-associated corporation.

3G mobile telephony was relatively slow to be adopted globally. In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially so to achieve high data transmission rates. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading transmission hardware, especially for UMTS, whose deployment required the replacement of most broadcast towers. Due to these issues and difficulties with deployment, many carriers delayed acquisition of these updated capabilities.

References

  1. "Monthly Customer Data". China Mobile. 30 September 2020.
  2. "Quarterly Highlights Report Bharti Airtel" (PDF). 30 June 2022.
  3. "China Telecom Corporation". China Telecom. 30 September 2022.
  4. "2022 Interim Report" (PDF). China Unicom. 30 June 2022.
  5. "3Q 2022 Reports" (PDF). América Móvil. 30 September 2022.
  6. "Full Year Results 22". MTN Group. 30 December 2022.
  7. "Full Year Results". Vodafone Group plc. 5 February 2024.
  8. "January–March 2023 Results". 11 May 2023.
  9. "Non-controlling equity interest: Iraq". Orange. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020.
  10. "H1 2022 Presentation" (PDF). 28 July 2022.
  11. "AT&T Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results". about.att.com. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  12. "AT&T INC. Ownership summary| NASDAQ". nasdaq.com. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  13. "1Q 2022 Report". 13 May 2022. p. 2.
  14. "Telkom Indonesia Q1 2021 financial results" (PDF). June 2021. p. 12.
  15. "3Q 2020 Telenor ASA Group Report" (PDF). 21 October 2020. p. 1.
  16. "Axiata 4th Quarter 2019 Financials" (PDF).
  17. "Axiata 4Q19 Data Financials".
  18. "Etisalat 2Q Report 2020" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  19. "Strong wireless service revenue growth highlights Verizon's 4Q and 2022 results". verizon.com. 24 January 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  20. hamsite, digital marketing. "آژانس دیجیتال مارکتینگ". digital marketing agency HAMSITE.
  21. "Q1 2021 Results" (PDF). Ooredoo. April 2021. p. 12.
  22. "Viettel to become a digital service provider this year". Viettel Group. 14 December 2019.
  23. 1 2 "MTNL to be act as BSNL subsidiary Till Merger Complete". The Hindu . 29 June 2019.
  24. "Government approves Revival package for BSNL, MTNL". The Economic Times . 23 October 2019.
  25. "BSNL, MTNL to be merged, along with special package". India Today. 23 October 2019.
  26. "TRAI subscription data". April 2022.
  27. "Customer base, 2019" (PDF). CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. 19 March 2020.
  28. سهم بازار اپراتورهای همراه در سه ماهه نخست سال جاری [Mobile operators' market share in the first quarter of this year]. rond.ir (in Persian). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  29. "Q1 2021 Results" (PDF). MTS. 18 May 2021. p. 2.
  30. "NTT FY2020" (PDF). 12 May 2021.
  31. "Report 1Q 2021" (PDF). 7 May 2021. p. 4.
  32. "Financial highlights 1Q 2021" (PDF). 6 May 2021.
  33. "KPI Q1 2020". MegaFon. 28 May 2020.
  34. "Iridium Q2 2016 Results" (PDF). 30 June 2016.
  35. "Globestar Announces Q1 2015 Results". Globalstar.com. 31 March 2015.
  36. "Thuraya Launches SMS Info Service with CNN" (Press release). Thuraya. 27 November 2007. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010.
  37. "INMARSAT HOLDINGS LIMITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS For the three and nine months ended 30 September 2009 (unaudited)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2012.

For a more comprehensive list of mobile phone operators, see Mobile country codes.