Reliance Jio solidified its dominance in the Indian telecom sector in October 2025, leading the surge in active subscriber additions, according to a recent report by Jefferies. The telecom industry experienced its strongest growth in five months, adding 5.7 million active users, with Jio capturing a substantial 3.9 million of these new subscribers. This marks the eighth consecutive month that Jio has outperformed its main competitor, Bharti Airtel, in active user acquisition.
Financial experts and market analysts are expressing optimism about Reliance Jio's future, with brokerages like Jefferies, Axis Capital, JM Financial, and ICICI Securities issuing positive forecasts for the telecom giant, citing its strong position in both wireless and wired internet sectors.
Jio's active subscriber market share has risen to approximately 43 percent, driven by market share gains across various regions, indicating a strengthening hold on the consumer base. Jio's active subscriber market share has increased across all circles over the past year: 60 bps in Metros, 150 bps in A-circles, 170 bps in B-circles and 120 bps in C-circles. In the telecom sector, Circle A, Circle B, and Circle C are classifications for the country's 22 licensed service areas (LSAs) based on their revenue potential and market characteristics. ICICI Securities reported Jio's active subscriber market share rose 14 basis points month-on-month to 43.5 percent in October, while Bharti's increased 6 bps to 35.8 percent.
Beyond mobile connectivity, Jio is also making significant strides in the home internet space, with its broadband division expanding rapidly through Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Jio's FWA subscriber base has reached 10.2 million, giving the company approximately 80 percent dominance in this niche. In the broader wired broadband market, Jio's share improved to over 41 percent in October. Jio continued its strong performance in the home broadband segment, which includes FTTH, UBR and 5G FWA, by adding 0.88 million subscribers in October 2025. Jio added 0.31 million subscribers in the 5G FWA sub-segment alone (excluding UBR) and maintained a 74.6 percent market share at the end of October, compared with 75.3 percent in September.
Analysts at Axis Capital and ICICI Securities highlighted the immense growth potential in the broadband segment, given that broadband penetration in Indian households is only around 16 percent. JM Financial's analysis supports this view, noting that the demand for JioAirFiber is fueling these numbers. Axis noted that FWA has quickly grown to 17 per cent of overall broadband subscribers and accounts for 60-65 per cent of monthly broadband additions.
Jefferies noted that strong subscriber momentum in CYTD25 and growing data penetration support healthy ARPU growth. ARPU growth is the increase in the average revenue per user (ARPU) over a specific period. Experts believe that with broadband penetration in Indian households sitting at just 16 percent, there is immense room for growth, since revenue per user in the broadband segment is significantly higher than mobile, this expansion is expected to be highly lucrative. It added that ARPUs in broadband are about 2.5 times higher than mobile, making it a lucrative segment.
Bharti Airtel added 1.25 million subscribers and 2.7 million active users. The operator also reported strong momentum in mobile broadband, with 2 million additions in October.
Vodafone Idea's struggles continue, with the operator losing 2.1 million subscribers in October, compared to 744,000 in September. The operator lost active subscribers in 17 of 22 circles, an indication that the retention challenge is not confined to specific pockets but spread across metros and the hinterland.
