Data based on Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators (various years) reports, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, New Delhi.
TRAI data shows decline in both internet and telephone subscriptions
Moa Jamir
Dimapur | November 1
Nagaland’s internet subscriptions fell by around 12% and telephone subscriptions by 5.2% in 2025-26, even as both indicators grew nationally, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators 2025–26.
Released earlier this month, the report showed that the State’s total telephone subscriptions, comprising wireline and wireless connections, stood at 1.65 million as of March 31, 2026, down approximately 90,000 from 1.74 million a year earlier.
Internet subscriptions fell by around 200,000, from 1.66 million in March 2025 to 1.46 million in March 2026.
Rural sector leads decline
The decline in internet subscriptions was concentrated in rural areas, where connections fell by 20.4%, from 980,000 in March 2025 to 780,000 in March 2026. Urban internet subscriptions remained unchanged at 680,000.
Telephone subscriptions also declined in both rural and urban areas. Rural subscriptions fell from 920,000 to 880,000, down 4.3%, while urban subscriptions decreased from 830,000 to 770,000, a fall of 7.2%.
Nagaland’s telephone tele-density or the number of telephone connections per 100 people, declined from 76.50 in March 2025 to 71.80 in March 2026. Internet tele-density, measured as internet subscriptions per 100 people, also fell from 72.90 to 63.58.
Wireless connections continued to dominate the State’s telephone subscriber base, accounting for 1.61 million of the 1.65 million subscriptions in March 2026. The remaining approximately 40,000 were wireline connections.
Reversal of previous growth
The latest figures reverse the growth in Nagaland’s telephone and internet subscriber bases recorded between March 2023 and March 2025.
Telephone subscriptions rose from 1.65 million in March 2023 to 1.71 million in March 2024 and 1.74 million in March 2025, before falling to 1.65 million in March 2026.
Internet subscriptions increased from 1.58 million in March 2023 to 1.66 million in March 2024, remained at that level in March 2025, and then declined to 1.46 million in March 2026. This left the internet subscriber base around 7.6% below its March 2023 level, while telephone subscriptions returned to their level of three years earlier.
Broadband subscriptions, which accounted for nearly all reported internet connections in the State, also fell from approximately 1.64 million in March 2025 to 1.45 million in March 2026, with the decline concentrated in rural areas.
The State’s trend contrasted with national growth. Total telephone subscriptions across India increased by 10.81%, from 1,200.80 million in March 2025 to 1,330.58 million in March 2026. Internet subscriptions rose by 12.76%, from 969.10 million to 1,092.79 million.
Nationally, rural telephone subscriptions increased from 534.69 million to 551.79 million, while urban subscriptions grew from 666.11 million to 778.79 million. Rural internet subscriptions rose from 407.69 million to 440.87 million, and urban subscriptions increased from 561.42 million to 651.93 million.
83 public Wi-Fi hotspots
Nagaland had 83 public Wi-Fi hotspots supported by 268 access points as of March 2026. During the quarter covered by the 2025–26 report, the State recorded 2,941 unique Wi-Fi users and 37 terabytes (TB) of data consumption, compared with 6,254 users and 54 TB in the corresponding quarter of 2024–25.
Nationally, public Wi-Fi hotspots increased from 55,052 in March 2025 to 56,222 in March 2026, while the number of access points declined from 162,901 to 160,882. TRAI also reported a national decline in unique Wi-Fi users and data consumption, attributing much of the decrease to RailTel.
The report further noted that Bharti Airtel included its machine-to-machine (M2M) cellular subscriber base in its 2025–26 reporting after excluding it from earlier reports. This change affects comparisons of national wireless subscriber figures across the two reporting periods.
At A Glance: Telecom Subscriptions in India & Nagaland | |||
March 2025 | March 2026 | Change | |
Nagaland | |||
Total telephone subscriptions | 1.74 million | 1.65 million | −5.2% |
Rural telephone subscriptions | 0.92 million | 0.88 million | −4.3% |
Urban telephone subscriptions | 0.83 million | 0.77 million | −7.2% |
Telephone tele-density | 76.50 | 71.80 | −4.70 pp |
Internet subscriptions | 1.66 million | 1.46 million | −12.0% |
Rural internet subscriptions | 0.98 million | 0.78 million | −20.4% |
Urban internet subscriptions | 0.68 million | 0.68 million | No change |
Internet tele-density | 72.90 | 63.58 | −9.32 pp |
india | |||
Total telephone subscriptions | 1,200.80 million | 1,330.58 million | +10.81% |
Total tele-density | 85.04 | 93.26 | +8.22 pp |
Total internet subscriptions | 969.10 million | 1,092.79 million | +12.76% |
Total internet tele-density | 68.63 | 76.59 | +7.96 pp |
Telephone tele-density and internet tele-density represent subscriptions per 100 people. Changes in density are expressed in percentage point (pp). Figures are rounded; percentage changes are calculated from reported figures. | |||
Source: Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators 2024–25 & 2025–26, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
