List of telecom companies in India

Last updated

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.

Contents

Direct-to-home (DTH) operators

There are 4 pay-for-use DTH service providers and one free-to-air service provider (DD Free Dish) in India. [1]

As of 31th 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. [2]

Market share of pay DTH operators in India as of 31th March 2024, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

   Tata Play (32.53%)
   Airtel digital TV (28.45%)
   Dish TV (20.46%)
   Sun Direct (18.57%)
OperatorMarket shareOwnership
Tata Play 32.53% [1] Tata Group (50.2%)
Disney India (29.8%)
Temasek (20%)
Airtel Digital TV 28.45% [1] Bharti Airtel (100%)

Dish TV

20.46% [1] Publicly Owned
Sun Direct 18.57% [1] Sun TV Network (80%)
Astro (20%)
DD Free Dish Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India) (100%)

Notes

  • DD free dish is a free-to-air service hence their subscriber data is not shown in the TRAI performance report. [1]
  • On 22 March 2018, Dish TV merged with d2h, creating the then-largest DTH service provider in India. [3]

Multiple-system operators (MSOs)

As of 31 March 2024, there are 880 MSOs (some also have an ISP license). [1]

List of top MSOs by subscribers

NoOperatorTotal Active Subscriber Base [1]
1GTPL Hathway Ltd91,07,022
2Siti Networks Ltd53,00,428
3Hathway Digital Ltd52,92,476
4Thamizhaga Cable TV Communication Pvt Ltd. (TCCL)38,13,509
5Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd (KCCL)34,96,432
6Den Networks Ltd34,55,854
7NXT Digital Ltd (HITS)25,79,033
8KAL Cables20,01,969
9V K Digital Network Pvt. Ltd16,03,039
10Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Ltd (TACTV)15,77,636
11Fastway Transmissions Pvt Ltd14,63,512
12NXT Digital Ltd (CATV)12,61,409

Wireless operators

As of 31st July 2024, there are around 1,169.61 million wireless subscribers in India according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). [2]

Market share of Wireless Mobile operators in India as of 31st July 2024, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) [4]

  Jio (40.68%)
  Airtel (33.12%)
  Vodafone Idea (18.46%)
  BSNL (7.59%)
  MTNL (0.16%)

Mobile operators

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) [5] [6]

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. [7]

Active operators

List of active mobile operators in the country (as on 31st July 2024)
Operator

(Estd.)

BrandsTotal Subscribers (million)Active Subscribers (million)TechnologiesOwnershipNotes
Airtel India (1995)Airtel (stylised as 'airtel')387.33384.825G, 4G(VoLTE, VoWiFi), 2G [8] [9] 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%. [10]

Subscriber count and active users include Bharti Hexacom.

BSNL (2000)CellOne [11]

BSNL Mobile

BSNL (VNO's)

85.7246.484G(limited testing), [12] 3G, 2G [13] Government of India (100%)BSNL does not directly operate in Delhi and Mumbai. [14] BSNL (VNO's) operates only in Tamil Nadu.
MTNL (1986)Dolphin [15]

MTNL Delhi [16] Sanjay (14 January 2010). "MTNL (Mumbai) Introduces Online Recharge for Trump Prepaid and 3G". telecomtalk.info.</ref> [17]

1.910.423G, 2G [18] Government of India (100%)MTNL only operates in Delhi and Mumbai. [19] MTNL is in the process of being merged with BSNL. The merger is expected to be completed by 2025. [20] Since January 2021, the operations of MTNL's networks have been outsourced to BSNL. [21]
Jio (2016)Jio475.77440.935G(VoNR), 4G(VoLTE), VoWiFi [22] Jio Platforms Limited (100%)Not to be confused with Reliance Communications.
Vodafone Idea (2018)Vi (stylised as 'V!')215.88188.264G(VoLTE, limited VoWiFi), 2G [23] Government of India (23.8%)
Vodafone Group (23.2%)
Aditya Birla Group (15.0%)
Public Shareholding (38.0%)
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'. [24]


Defunct operators

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 [25] - which was also the first mobile operator in the country. [26] Most recently, Reliance Communications ceased operations citing bankruptcy. [27]

List of notable mobile operators that provided services in the country (as on 31 July 2024)
OperatorStarted operationsCeased operationsFate
Modi Telstra [25] 1990Merged into Axiata Spice Communications [28]
Escotel 1996Merged into Idea Cellular [29]
Hutch Essar 1999Acquired by Vodafone to form Vodafone India
Axiata Spice Communications 1992Merged into Idea Cellular [30]
S Tel 2012Licence cancelled by the Supreme Court of India
Etisalat 2010 [31] 2012Licence cancelled by the Supreme Court of India [32]
BPL Mobile (Loop Mobile)19952014Ceased operations after expiration of licence [33]
Virgin Mobile India / T24 Mobile 2009 [34] 2015Merged into Tata Docomo [35]
Singtel 20092017Acquired by Reliance Communications
Videocon Telecom 2010 [36] 2016Shut down following sale of spectrum to Bharti Airtel [37] [38]
MTS India 20092017Acquired by Reliance Communications [39]
Aircel 19992018Bankrupt [40]
Telenor India 20062018Acquired by Bharti Airtel [41]
Idea Cellular 20022018Merged with Vodafone India to form Vi [42] [43]
Vodafone India 20112018Merged with Idea Cellular to form Vi [42] [43]
Tata Docomo 20092019Acquired by Bharti Airtel [44]
Reliance Communications 20042019Declared bankruptcy, subsequently acquired by Reliance JIO [27]

Wireline operators

Fixed-line operators

As of 31st July, 2024, there are 35.56 million wireline subscribers in India according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). [2]

Market share of fixed-line telecom operators in India as of 31st July 2024, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India [2]

   Jio (38.46%)
   Airtel (25.85%)
   BSNL (17.53%)
   Tata Teleservices (6.51%)
   MTNL (5.88%)
   Vi (2.35%)
  Others (3.42%)
OperatorSubscribers [1] (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
Quadrant4.14
Reliance Communications 0.35 Reliance ADAG

Internet service providers (ISPs)

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] [46] Total Wireless broadband subscribers stood at 866.19 million and wireline broadband subscribers stood at 38.35 million. [4] The top 5 services constituted 98.35% market share of the total broadband subscribers. [46]

Market share of broadband (wired + wireless) services in India as of 30th April 2024, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) [4]

   Jio (52.14%)
   Airtel (29.66%)
   Vi (13.62%)
   BSNL (2.69%)
   ACT (0.24%)
  Others (1.65%)

As of 30th April 2024, top five Wireless Broadband Service providers

OperatorSubscribers [46] (million)Ownership
Jio 472.42 Jio Platforms
Airtel 267.57 Bharti Airtel
Vi 126.43 Vodafone Idea Limited
BSNL 20.84 Government of India
Intech Online Pvt. Ltd0.24

The following table shows the top 5 wired broadband service providers in India by total subscriber base as of 30th April 2024.

ProviderSubscribers [46] (million)Ownership
JioFiber 11.62 Jio Platforms
Airtel 7.84 Bharti Airtel
BSNL 4.14 Government of India
ACT 2.25 Atria Convergence
OneOTT Intertainment1.17 Hinduja Group

Other notable ISPs

ProviderOwnership
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%)
ExcitelExcitel Broadband Pvt. Ltd.

For enterprise/wholesale only

ProviderOwnership
CtrlS Datacenters LtdCtrlS Labs Limited
ERNET Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
GAILTEL Government of India
National Knowledge Network
(for educational institutions only)
Government of India
PowerGrid Government of India
Tulip Telecom Tulip Enterprises

Telecom R&D firms

NameHeadquartersType
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

See also

Notes

      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">Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited</span> Indian central public sector undertaking

      Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(abbreviated as BSNL) (India Communications Corporation Limited) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Department of Telecommunications, which is part of the Ministry of Communications, Government of India with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. The central public sector undertaking was established on 1 October 2000 by the Government of India. Its highest official is designated as Chairperson and Managing Director who is a central civil service group 'A' gazetted officer from Indian Communication Finance Service cadre or central engineering service group 'A' gazetted officer from Indian Telecommunication Service cadre. It 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.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited</span> Subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

      Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited. 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"} & "Transparency makes us different" is its motto. As of May 2024, it has 1.92 million subscribers.

      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.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Public call office</span>

      A public call office (PCO) is a payphone facility located in a public place in India and Pakistan. It is also another name in the United Kingdom for a public telephone box.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharti Airtel</span> Indian multinational telecommunications company

      Bharti Airtel Limited is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and LTE Advanced services throughout India. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology across all Indian telecom circles. It is the second largest mobile network operator in India and the second largest mobile network operator in the world. Airtel was named India's 2nd most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc.

      Aircel Ltd. was an Indian mobile network operator headquartered in Mumbai that offered voice and 2G and 3G data services. Maxis Communications held a 74% stake and Sindya Securities and Investments held the remaining 26%. Aircel was founded by Chinnakannan Sivasankaran and commenced operations in Tamil Nadu in 1999. It was once a market leader in Tamil Nadu and had considerable presence in Odisha, Assam and North-East telecom circles. 2G and 3G Services including voice were shut down in all circles after failure of merger talks with Reliance Communications.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet in India</span>

      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">Loop Mobile</span> Indian telecommunications company

      Loop Mobile India Ltd, formerly BPL Mobile Communications, was an Indian mobile network operator.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Videocon Telecom</span> Indian cellular service provider

      Videocon Telecommunications Limited, formerly Videocon Mobile Services, was an Indian cellular service provider that offered GSM mobile services in India under the brand name Videocon. The company was a subsidiary of the Videocon Group, and was headquartered at Gurgaon, Haryana. Videocon launched its services on 7 April 2010 in Mumbai. At its peak, Videocon held licences to provide mobile services in 18 out of 22 telecom circles of India. However, Videocon launched commercial services only in 11 out of the 18 circles it held licences in. Following the 2G spectrum case, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences issued by the Indian Government in 2008, including 21 licences belonging to Videocon.

      In India, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) conducts auctions of licenses for electromagnetic spectrum. India was among the early adopters of spectrum auctions beginning auctions in 1994.

      Direct-to-Home (DTH) television is a method of receiving satellite television by means of signals transmitted from direct-broadcast satellites. The Government of India (GoI) permitted the reception and distribution of satellite television signals in November 2000. The first DTH service in the country was launched by Dish TV on 2 October 2003. DD Free Dish, the first free DTH service in India, was launched by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati in December 2004.

      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.

      Mechanisms for establishing rules ensuring net neutrality in India, are at present mainly enforced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). At present, there are no specific legislation regarding Net Neutrality in India.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Airtel India</span> Indian telecommunications company

      Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom towers. Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and 4G+ services all over India. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its VoLTE technology across all Indian telecom circles.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jio</span> Indian telecommunications company

      Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited is an Indian telecommunications company and a subsidiary of Jio Platforms, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. It operates a national LTE network with coverage across all 22 telecom circles. Jio offers 5G, 4G and 4G+ services all over India. Its 6G service is in the works.

      <span class="mw-page-title-main">Idea Cellular</span> Former Indian telecommunications company

      Idea Cellular was an Indian telecommunications company based at Mumbai, Maharashtra. It was an integrated GSM operator and had 220.00 million subscribers as of June 2018.

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