iWorld
Reliance Jio adds 2.9 mn wireless subscribers in July: Trai
Mumbai: Reliance Jio added 2.9 million wireless subscribers at the end of July, as per subscription data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Bharti Airtel added 0.51 million wireless subscribers during the same period. Vodafone Idea lost 1.54 wireless subscribers in July.
The total number of wireless subscribers increased from 1,147.39 to 1,148.03 million in July. The number of wireless subscribers in urban areas decreased from 625.49 million to 626.74 million. However, wireless subscriptions in rural areas increased from 521.90 million to 521.29 million.
As per Trai data, there were 1,013.18 million active wireless subscribers during the month. Reliance Jio had the highest number of active wireless subscribers at 382.17 million, followed by Bharti Airtel at 356.17 million and Vodafone Idea at 216.92 million. BSNL had 52.27 active wireless subscribers.
As per information received from 694 operators in July, Trai found that total broadband subscribers increased from 800.94 million to 807.42 million. The broadband subscribers comprised 776.81 mobile device users, 29.47 million wired subscribers, and 1.14 million fixed wireless subscribers.
The top five broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 422.23 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 222.12 million subscribers, Vodafone Idea with 122.98 million subscribers, BSNL with 25.25 million subscribers, and Atria Convergence with 2.13 million subscribers.
The top five wired broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 6.27 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 4.99 million subscribers, BSNL with 3.85 million subscribers, Atria Convergence with 2.13 million subscribers, and Hathway Cable and Datacom with 1.13 million subscribers.
The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm with 415.96 million, Bharti Airtel with 217.13 million, Vodafone Idea with 122.97 million, BSNL with 21.39 million, and Intech Online with 0.22 million.
The number of wireline subscribers increased from 25.57 million to 25.63 million in July.
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,172.96 million to 1,173.66 million. Urban telephone subscriptions increased from 649.09 million to 650.40 million. However, rural subscriptions decreased from 523.87 million to 523.26 million.
During July, a total of 10.23 million requests were received for mobile number portability (MNP).
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
