TRAI's May 2026 subscription figures, released on June 25, put total telephone subscriptions at 1,343.10 million. The report gives teledensity of 94.02 including machine-to-machine cellular connections and 84.84 without them.
The difference is 9.18 percentage points, calculated from the published rates. It reflects the change in what is counted, not a sudden change in the population. The figures should not be described as the percentage of Indians personally owning a phone.
The report's urban teledensity exceeds 100, reinforcing the distinction between connections and unique people. Its wireless base also includes fixed wireless access, so the category is broader than individual mobile handsets.
TRAI says the figures come from service providers and use population projections. Those definitions are essential to interpreting the headline total. The release describes subscription activity; it does not directly measure whether each household has reliable service, affordable data or adequate connection speed.
