India 5G subscribers top 400 Million with rapid adoption continuing without 5Gi
With over 400 million 5G subscribers, India now ranks #2 globally (China is #1 [1.]). What’s even more remarkable is the speed of adoption after 5G spectrum auctions were repeatedly delayed. Jyotiraditya Scindia, India’s union minister for communications and development of the North Eastern Region, said the country is “setting new global benchmarks in scale, speed and digital transformation.”
According to figures cited by the minister, the country’s 5G subscriber base now exceeds that of other major markets, including the United States with around 350 million users, the European Union with 200 million, and Japan with 190 million. China remains the global leader, with more than 1.2 billion 5G connections.
Note 1. China has over 1.2 billion 5G subscribers as of late 2025, representing over 60% of all mobile connections in the country, driven by massive infrastructure rollout and strong adoption across major operators like China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, making it the global leader in 5G penetration.
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Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm spearheaded the launch, becoming the first carriers to operationalize 5G networks and achieving significant subscriber acquisition, with each surpassing the 50 million user milestone within their initial year of service [1]. Vodafone Idea subsequently entered the 5G market with launches in specific cities during 2025.
State-owned telecom provider BSNL is projected to launch 5G services within the current year [1]. This deployment is slated to exclusively utilize India’s indigenously developed telecom technology stack, a collaborative effort involving the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), Tejas Networks, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
As of the close of 2025, the national 5G infrastructure comprised 518,854 operational base stations, marking a substantial increase from approximately 464,990 recorded at the start of the year [1]. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reported the deployment of 4,112 new 5G base transceiver stations (BTS) in December 2025 alone, contributing to the year-end cumulative total
- Infrastructure Growth: Rapid BTS deployment, exceeding 4,100 new installations in December 2025 alone, demonstrates intense network densification, with coverage now reaching most districts.
- Vodafone Idea’s Entry: Vi, after initial delays, commenced its phased 5G service introduction in select cities during 2025.
- BSNL’s Indigenous Strategy: The state-owned operator is slated to launch 5G using India’s homegrown stack (C-DOT, Tejas, TCS), showcasing self-reliance in telecom technology.
- Market Dynamics: The rapid expansion aims to unlock enterprise and consumer use cases, positioning India as a significant global 5G player, despite ongoing discussions about monetization and infrastructure investment.
Technical & Deployment Highlights:
- Architecture: A mix of 5G SA (Jio) and 5G NSA (Airtel) is prevalent, with SA offering lower latency and true 5G capabilities.
- Spectrum: Operators utilize various bands, including sub-6 GHz (3.3 GHz, 26 GHz) for broad coverage and capacity.
- Deployment Pace: Driven by ministerial targets, operators installed BTS at an accelerated pace, focusing initially on high-revenue urban centers.
This author deeply regrets that the Telecommunications Standards Development Society India (TSDSI)’s 5Gi RIT specification, included as part of the ITU-R M.2150 IMT 2020 RIT/SRIT standard, was not implemented in India. On January 25, 2022, TSDSI told the Telecommunication Engineering Center (TEC) under the DoT not to proceed with the adoption of 5Gi as a national 5G standard. TSDSI added that it “does not intend to further update 5Gi specifications.”
References:
OpenSignal: real world 5G deployment in India, market status & what happened to 5Gi?
Nokia Executive: India to Have Fastest 5G Rollout in the World; 5Gi/LMLC Missing!
LightCounting & TÉRAL RESEARCH: India RAN market is buoyant with 5G rolling out at a fast pace
Nokia’s Bell Labs to use adapted 4G and 5G access technologies for Indian space missions
Reliance Jio in talks with Tesla to deploy private 5G network for the latter’s manufacturing plant in India
Communications Minister: India to be major telecom technology exporter in 3 years with its 4G/5G technology stack
India to set up 100 labs for developing 5G apps, business models and use-cases
Adani Group to launch private 5G network services in India this year
Adani Group planning to enter India’s long delayed 5G spectrum auction
At long last: India enters 5G era as carriers spend $ billions but don’t support 5Gi
5G in India to be launched in 2023; air traffic safety a concern; 5G for agricultural monitoring to be very useful
Bharti Airtel to launch 5G services in India this August; Reliance Jio to follow
5G Made in India: Bharti Airtel and Tata Group partner to implement 5G in India
India government wants “home-grown” 5G; BSNL and MTNL will emerge as healthy
5G in India dependent on fiber backhaul investments
Hindu businessline: Indian telcos deployed 33,000 5G base stations in 2022
