Broadband
WEF, Reliance join hands for digital excellence centre
Mumbai: In what could give a major fillip to PM Modi’s Digital India dream, which also envisages making available broadband and related services to over 60,000 village administrations, the World Economic Forum has announced a new digital technology centre in Mumbai that would be executed by the Indian government and Reliance Industries Ltd (Reliance) jointly.
Dubbed the Center for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), it “will operate as the sister centre to the World Economic Forum Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco, allowing policymakers and thought leaders in India to stay ahead of the curve through unique insights in new forms of governance and new technology applications, and connections with cutting-edge technology innovators globally,” Reliance said in a statement.
The WEF identified India as a partner since it is a key economic, political and social shaper of the 21st century’s global, regional and industry systems.
The WEF initiative is also a recognition of Modi’s Digital India vision and Startup India programme to encourage young entrepreneurs. It is the first centre opened outside of Silicon Valley in the US.
“The capability for India to maximise the potential and minimise the risks of the Fourth Industrial revolution, both domestically for its economy and society, and globally as a major economic and social innovator — and cultural influencer– will be one of the foremost drivers for prosperity and peace over the coming decades,” the WEF said.
The new economy will greatly benefit from the Fourth Industrial Revolution in a digital age and is expected to create significant value to countries that embrace them quickly by accelerating their GDP and job growth. These opportunities include artificial intelligence and machine learning, internet of things (IoT) and blockchain, among many others, according to the WEF.
The WEF, which has been championing the Fourth Industrial Revolution, established C4IR in the Silicon Valley at San Francisco as Silicon Valley was already home to several of these exciting developments.
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.
