Hindi
Reliance MediaWorks to manage Annapurna Studios’ facility
MUMBAI: Reliance ADAG’s film and entertainment services company, Reliance MediaWorks, has partnered with Annapurna Studios, the Hyderabad-based film and television studio and production house to manage and operate their studio facility.
Annapurna Studios, founded by Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao, is a leading provider of various production facilities, including sound stages, outdoor sets, editing and sound recording theaters to the Telugu entertainment industry. The 80-year-old Telugu film industry, based in Hyderabad, is the second biggest film producer in India.
Spread across 22 acres, the centrally located studio complex owned by Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad has added five new air-conditioned studios to the existing five studio complex and the facility will be a comprehensive resource for feature films, television, commercials, and music videos amongst others.
RMWL will also operate and expand Annapurna Studios’ digital post production facilities that cater to the needs of the motion picture and television commercials industry.
Through this alliance, RMWL and Annapurna aim to combine the expertise of both players in offering cutting edge infrastructure, skill sets and operating strengths to the industry.
Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun said, “Annapurna Studios has created an ecosystem par excellence for the Telugu film industry and it is our honour to partner with them. Reliance MediaWorks has put together an experienced team of film and media services executives with a proven track record of accomplishments as operators and successful marketers and we can bring the experience, financial skills and hands-on approach that can make a difference. We are excited about the synergies and opportunities that will be created as we begin to work together and we look forward to strengthening our presence in Southern India.”
Reliance MediaWorks boasts of extensive experience in the studios and digital post production space. The company owns and operates RMW Studios which are Hollywood benchmarked studios and comprise eight sound stages spread across a seven acre area within Filmcity, Mumbai. Having worked on more than 150 films, RMWL’s digital intermediate lab is the leading 4K facility in Mumbai with real time grading capabilities.
Rao said, “This partnership evokes a shared vision for a unified film, media and entertainment industry in India. The shared strengths will enable the studio to leverage expertise and complement each other in providing world- class acilities and services to its customers”.
Annapurna Studios MD Akkineni Nagarjuna said, “I am enthusiastic about this partnership with Reliance MediaWorks. It is futuristic. The collaborative strategic approach between the two studios will drive new growth opportunities and realise the potential to ultimately transform the media and entertainment sector in India.”
Hindi
India’s telecom subscribers cross 1.32 billion in February 2026
Broadband base swells past 1.06 billion as Jio and Airtel tighten grip on the market.
MUMBAI: India’s telecom sector is ringing in steady growth once again adding millions of new connections every month while the race for broadband supremacy continues to heat up like a fiercely contested cricket match. According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 April 2026, the total telephone subscriber base in the country reached 1,321.31 million at the end of February 2026. This marked a net addition of 7.31 million subscribers during the month, translating into a monthly growth rate of 0.56 per cent.
Wireless subscribers (including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) stood at 1,273.31 million, registering a net addition of 6.97 million and a growth rate of 0.55 per cent. Within this, urban wireless connections grew to 730.75 million (growth 0.70 per cent), while rural wireless subscribers reached 542.56 million (growth 0.35 per cent).
Wireline subscribers, though much smaller in scale, showed slightly faster growth. The total wireline base increased to 47.99 million, with a net addition of 0.34 million and a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent. Urban areas continued to dominate wireline connections with a share of 89.41 per cent.
Overall tele-density in India improved to 92.66 per cent. Urban tele-density stood at 150.68 per cent, while rural tele-density edged up to 60.02 per cent.
The broadband subscriber base crossed a significant milestone, reaching 1,059.05 million at the end of February 2026. This reflected a healthy net addition of 6.33 million subscribers and a monthly growth rate of 0.60 per cent from January’s figure of 1,052.72 million.
Segment-wise, mobile wireless access continued to drive the majority of growth with 996.52 million subscribers. Fixed Wireless Access (including 5G FWA) added 16.51 million, while wired broadband stood at 46.02 million.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. maintained its commanding lead with 519.64 million broadband subscribers. Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed with 364.14 million, Vodafone Idea Ltd. with 129.36 million, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. with 28.70 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. with 2.38 million.
Together, these top five players command a massive 98.60 per cent share of the total broadband market.
In the wireless (mobile) segment, private operators continued to dominate with 92.59 per cent market share, leaving public sector undertakings (BSNL and MTNL) with just 7.41 per cent.
Out of the total 1,257.29 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,177.60 million were active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing an impressive 93.66 per cent activity rate. Bharti Airtel led in this metric with 99.42 per cent of its subscribers active.
Meanwhile, 14.47 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in February, indicating healthy competition and customer churn across zones.
While urban areas still lead in absolute numbers, rural connectivity is slowly catching up. Rural wireless tele-density stood at 59.46 per cent, compared with the much higher urban figure of 142.32 per cent.
Fixed Wireless Access using 5G technology also showed promising traction, growing to 11.93 million subscribers. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the primary players driving this segment.
The data paints a picture of a maturing yet still rapidly expanding telecom ecosystem. With total telephone subscribers now well past the 1.32 billion mark and broadband users comfortably above 1.06 billion, India continues to solidify its position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets.
From bustling city streets to remote villages, more Indians are staying connected than ever before proving that when it comes to telecom, the country’s appetite for growth shows no signs of hanging up anytime soon.
