Broadband
ACT Fibernet partners with Netflix
MUMBAI: Broadband service provider ACT Fibernet has entered into a partnership with streaming giant Netflix. Under the partnership, "Entertainment" plan users of ACT Fibernet would be able to pay for their monthly Netflix subscription through their ACT Fibernet bill with an assured cashback of up to Rs 350 per month. The offer will be available for ACT Fibernet customers Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the beginning.
"In line with our brand philosophy ‘Feel the Advantage’, we are excited to partner with Netflix, one of the most preferred choice of entertainment for our customers, and provide exceptional benefits and convenience to our users who will now be able to stream and enjoy the best of 4K and HD content seamlessly. Further, under our advantage entertainment promise, we are delighted to launch a unique assured cashback program for all our customers who choose to subscribe for Netflix via ACT,” Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd marketing head Ravi Karthik commented.
In Bengaluru, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Storm, ACT Lightning, ACT Incredible and ACT GIGA broadband plans. Likewise, in Hyderabad, ACT Entertainment variants are available on A Max-1050, A Max-1299, ACT Incredible and ACT GIGA. In Chennai, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Blast Promo, ACT Storm, ACT Lightning, ACT Thunder, ACT Incredible and ACT GIGA. Similarly, in Delhi, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Platinum Promo, and ACT Diamond broadband plans.
The offer would be effective from 7 March and later will be expanded to other markets. Earlier, ACT Fibernet also entered partnership with another OTT platform SonyLIV to strengthen entertainment content offering.
“Rising video consumption is at the heart of the growing broadband internet ecosystem in India. We are delighted to partner with ACT Fibernet to enable their customers to pay seamlessly for their Netflix subscription as part of their ACT bill and enjoy our incredible catalogue of content on any internet-connected screen,” Netflix India business development director Abhishek Nag commented.
Broadband
Airtel and Jio surge ahead as Vodafone Idea and BSNL lose subscribers in December
India’s mobile base rises in December, but gains skewed towards the top two operators
NEW DELHI: India’s telecom market ended 2025 with a familiar split: the leaders sprinting ahead, the laggards slipping further. Fresh data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) show Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio adding millions of wireless users in December, while Vodafone Idea and state-run BSNL continued to bleed subscribers.
India’s overall telephone subscriber base, wireless and wireline, climbed to 1.306 billion in December 2025, a monthly rise of 0.66 per cent. Growth was driven largely by wireless, which accounted for the bulk of new additions.
Bharti Airtel added 5.42 million wireless subscribers during the month, the biggest net gain among operators. Reliance Jio followed with roughly 2.96 million additions. Their gains were spread across multiple licensed service areas, underscoring broad-based momentum.
The story was starkly different for their rivals. Vodafone Idea recorded a net loss of about 9.4 lakh wireless subscribers, extending a run of monthly erosion. BSNL also saw its base shrink by around 2.06 lakh users. Despite marginal gains in a few circles, the PSU’s overall wireless base continued to contract.
Taken together, net wireless (mobile) additions across operators stood at 7.23 million in December.
Wireless subscribers, including mobile and fixed wireless access (FWA), rose to 1.258 billion, a net monthly increase of 8.21 million. Wireless tele-density improved to 88.41 per cent, though the urban–rural divide remained wide: urban tele-density at 140.66 per cent versus 59.07 per cent in rural areas.
The wireline segment posted modest growth. Subscribers increased from 47.05 million in November to 47.37 million in December, a 0.68 per cent monthly rise. Urban areas continued to dominate, while rural wireline tele-density stayed low.
Broadband crossed a symbolic milestone, with total subscribers topping one billion to reach 1,007.35 million by December-end. Mobile wireless broadband remained the primary access mode. In fixed wireless access, 5G FWA subscribers grew 5.59 per cent month on month, signalling gradual uptake of next-generation services.
Yet churn remains high. TRAI noted that about 16.12 million subscribers submitted mobile number portability requests in December alone.
The scoreboard is clear: scale is breeding more scale at the top, while smaller players struggle to hold ground. In India’s brutally competitive telecom arena, December’s numbers show a market that is still growing, but not evenly—and momentum, for now, sits firmly with the frontrunners.
