India’s top mobile networks, Jio, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, and Vodafone, are constantly striving for the hearts and pockets of subscribers in this country of 1.4 billion people.
Jio is the youngest of the network operators, arriving in 2016, but Jio has warmed its way into the hearts of millions through affordable smart feature phones, smartphones and data plans on high-speed 4G/5G networks.
And it is no surprise that just two years after arrival, Jio unseated Bharti Airtel as India’s largest network and has gone on to acquire a decent 40% of the country’s mobile subscribers (August 2024 statistics from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
Bharti Airtel is an operator that has been operational in India since 1995. It is a veteran telecom operator offering a wide range of services, including mobile, broadband, and enterprise solutions. Airtel has 33% of mobile subscribers in India and is now the 2nd largest mobile operator in the country.
Vodafone Idea, the 3rd largest mobile network operator in India, came into being when Vodafone India and Idea Cellular merged in 2018. Before the merger, Vodafone India had been active since 1992 and Idea Cellular had been in operation since 1995. As at August 2024, Vodafone Idea had 18.8% of India’s mobile network market.
BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) is the state-owned mobile network operator that had been in operation since 2000. It is also the largest public telecom operator in the country and has an 8% market share.
Additionally, there are a few smaller regional operators and virtual network operators (MVNOs) that operate in specific regions or offer services on the networks of the major operators.
The best mobile network in India
According to Opensignal’s 2024 India Mobile Network Experience Report, Jio stands out as India’s best mobile network in several key categories:
- Availability: Jio boasts a remarkable 99.4% availability, ensuring users are connected to a cellular network almost all the time.
- 5G Availability: Jio leads with 66.7% 5G availability, significantly outpacing Airtel by over 40 percentage points.
- Coverage Experience: Jio scores an impressive 9 out of 10 in coverage experience.
- Download Speed: With an average speed of 89.5 Mbps, Jio outperforms its competitors.
- Consistency: Jio is the most consistent service provider, achieving a score of 66.5%.
Additionally, Jio users benefit from a higher proportion of network tests that meet the necessary thresholds for demanding mobile applications, such as video calling and social media uploads.
Clearly, Jio is still maintaining its winning streak. In second place is Bharti Airtel, and in third place is Vodafone Idea.
How does Opensignal source the data for its Mobile Network Experience Reports? Why should we believe it when it says that one operator has the best mobile network OpenSignal collects billions of individual measurements every day from hundreds of millions of smartphones through their speed test app. The network service measurements are collected at all hours and at all locations, indoors and outdoors, providing the fairest possible measurements of real-life network experience.
This is similar to how Ookla’s speed test app works as well, using location services to measure real-time network situations and experiences at all times.
Download OpenSignal or Speedtest by Ookla to measure your mobile network’s performances.
