List of mobile network operators

For a more comprehensive list of mobile phone operators, see Mobile country codes.

Terrestrial

This is a list of the world's thirty largest terrestrial mobile phone network operators measured by number of subscriptions.

Rank	Country	Company	Main markets	Technology	Total subscriptions (in millions)	Ownership (100% ownership unless stated otherwise)
1	China	China Mobile Communications Corporation	List China (China Mobile) Hong Kong (CMHK) Pakistan (Zong)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, TD-HSDPA, TD-LTE, FD-LTE (Hong Kong only), 4G+, 5G	997.4^[1] (April 2024)	Government of the People's Republic of China (74.25%) Public stock (25.75%)
2	India	Bharti Airtel Limited	List Chad (Airtel) Bangladesh (Robi) (28.18%) DR Congo (Airtel) Gabon (Airtel) Guernsey (Airtel-Vodafone) India (Airtel) Jersey (Airtel-Vodafone) Kenya (Airtel Kenya) Madagascar (Airtel) Malawi (Airtel) Niger (Airtel) Nigeria (Airtel) Republic of the Congo (Airtel) Rwanda (Airtel) Seychelles (Airtel) Sri Lanka (Dialog Axiata) (10.335%) Tanzania (Airtel Tanzania) Uganda (Airtel Uganda) Zambia (Airtel)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA, UMTS, HSPA+, LTE, TD-LTE, FD-LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G	620.0^[2] (March 2024)	Bharti Enterprises (66.57%) Singtel (32.15%) Google (1.28%)
3	India	Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited	List India (Jio)	List LTE, TD-LTE, FD-LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G	472.42^[3] (April 2024)	Jio Platforms
4	China	China Telecom Corp., Ltd	List China Macau	List CDMA, EV-DO TD-LTE, LTE, 4G+, 5G	413.5^[4] (April 2024)	China Telecommunications Corporation (State Owned) (70.89%)
5	China	China Unicom Limited	List China Unicom CUniq HK CUniq UK	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, , TD-LTE, LTE, 4G+, 5G	333.0^[5] (December 2023)	China Unicom Limited (40.92%) China Netcom Group (29.49%) Telefónica (0.6%)
6	United Kingdom	Vodafone Group plc	List Albania (Vodafone) Australia (Vodafone) Czech Republic (Vodafone) Egypt (Vodafone) Germany (Vodafone) Greece (Vodafone) India (Vi) Ireland (Vodafone) Italy (Vodafone) Netherlands (Vodafone) Northern Cyprus (Vodafone) Portugal (Vodafone) Romania (Vodafone) South Africa (Vodacom) Spain (Vodafone) Tanzania (Vodacom) Turkey (Vodafone) United Kingdom (Vodafone)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G	323.0^[6] (December 2023)
7	Mexico	América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V	List Argentina (Claro) Austria (Telekom Austria) Belarus (A1) Brazil (Claro) Bulgaria (A1) Chile (Claro) Colombia (Claro) Costa Rica (Claro) Croatia (A1) Dominican Republic (Claro) Ecuador (Claro) El Salvador (Claro) Guatemala (Claro) Honduras (Claro) Liechtenstein (A1) Mexico (Telcel) Nicaragua (Claro) North Macedonia (A1) Panama (Claro) Paraguay (Claro) Peru (Claro) Puerto Rico (Claro) Serbia (A1) Slovenia (A1 Slovenija) Uruguay (Claro)	List D-AMPS, cdmaOne, CDMA2000 1x, EV-DO, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA+, LTE	311.6^[7] (March 2024)	Helu Slim (36.50%) Carlos Slim (6.84%) Public stock (56.66%)
8	Spain	Telefónica S.A.	List Argentina (Movistar) Brazil (Vivo) Chile (Movistar) Colombia (Movistar) Ecuador (Movistar) Germany (O₂) Mexico (Movistar) Peru (Movistar) Spain (Movistar) Sudan (Sudan Unicom) United Kingdom (O₂) Uruguay (Movistar) Venezuela (Movistar)	List D-AMPS, cdmaOne, CDMA2000, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, LTE	298.7^[8] (March 2024)
9	South Africa	MTN Group Limited	List Afghanistan Benin Botswana Cameroon Republic of the Congo Eswatini (30%) Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Iran (49%) Ivory Coast Liberia Nigeria Rwanda South Africa South Sudan Sudan Syria Uganda Yemen Zambia	List GSM,	287.6^[9] (March 2024)	Public stock (60.02%) Government Employees Pension Fund (25.33%) M1 (10.05%)
10	Germany	Deutsche Telekom AG	List Austria (Magenta Telekom) Bosnia and Herzegovina (HT Eronet) Croatia (Hrvatski Telekom) Czech Republic (T-Mobile CZ) Germany (Deutsche Telekom) Greece (Cosmote) Hungary (Magyar Telekom) Montenegro (Crnogorski Telekom) North Macedonia (Makedonski Telekom) Poland (T-Mobile PL) Puerto Rico (T-Mobile US) Romania (Telekom Romania) Slovakia (Slovak Telekom) United States (T-Mobile US) United States Virgin Islands (T-Mobile US)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSPA+, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, 5G NR	255.8^[10] (March 2024)	Free float (68.1%) Federal Republic of Germany (31.9%)
11	France	Orange S.A.	List Belgium (Orange) Botswana (Orange) Cameroon (Orange) Central African Republic (Orange) Democratic Republic of the Congo (Orange) Dominican Republic (Orange) Egypt (Orange) Equatorial Guinea (Orange) France (Orange) Guinea (Sonatel) Guinea-Bissau (Sonatel) Iraq (Korek) (20%)^[11] Ivory Coast Jordan (Orange) Kenya (Orange) Luxembourg Madagascar (Orange) Mali (Orange) Moldova (Orange) Morocco (Orange) Niger (Orange) Poland (Orange) Romania (Orange) Saudi Arabia (Orange) Senegal (Orange) (50%) Slovakia (Orange) Spain (Orange) Tunisia (Orange)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE	242.6^[12] (March 2024)	Public stock (77%) Government of France (23%)
12	India	Vodafone Idea Ltd	List India (Vi)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE, TD-LTE, FD-LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G	210.1^[13] (June 2024)	Government of India (23.8%) Vodafone Group Plc (23.2%) Aditya Birla Group (15%) Institutional Holdings (20.1%) Non-Institutional Holding (17.9%)
13	USA	AT&T Inc.	List United States (AT&T Mobility LLC) Mexico (AT&T Mexico)	List HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-A Pro, 5G NR	217.4^[14] (January 2023)	Institutional Shares (59.28%) Vanguard Group Inc (14.12%) Blackrock Inc (11.49%) State Street Corp (7.53%) Newport Trust Co (5.07%) Geode Captital Management, LLC (2.52%)^[15]
14	Malaysia	Axiata Group Berhad	List Bangladesh (Robi Axiata Ltd)(61.82%) Cambodia (Smart) Indonesia (XL) Malaysia (CelcomDigi) Sri Lanka (Dialog)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR	162.5^[16] (December 2023)	Public stock (54.91%) Government of Malaysia (45.09%)
15	Indonesia	PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel)	List Indonesia (Telkomsel Halo, Telkomsel PraBayar, by.U) East Timor (Telkomcel)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE, 5G	159.3^[17] (December 2023)	Telkom Indonesia (65%) Singtel (35%)
16	UAE	Emirates Telecommunication Group Company PJSC (Etisalat)	List Afghanistan Benin Burkina Faso Central African Republic Chad Egypt Gabon Côte d'Ivoire Mali Mauritania Morocco Niger Pakistan (26%) Saudi Arabia (27%) Togo United Arab Emirates	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, LTE	159^[18] (2021)	Emirates Investment Authority (60.03%) Public stock (39.97%)
17	Netherlands	VEON Ltd.	List Bangladesh (Banglalink) Kazakhstan (Beeline) Kyrgyzstan (Beeline) Pakistan (Jazz) Ukraine (Kyivstar) Uzbekistan (Beeline)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE	154.2 (November 2024)	Letterone Investment Holdings S.A. (47.9%) Public stock (43.8%) Stichting Administratiekantoor Mobile Telecommunications Investor (8.3%)
18	USA	Verizon Communications	List United States (Verizon, Visible, TracFone, Net10, Straight Talk, SafeLink, Simple Mobile) (TracFone, Net10, Straight Talk, SafeLink, Simple Mobile) (TracFone, Net10, Straight Talk, SafeLink, Simple Mobile)	List HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-A Pro, 5G NR	156.7^[19] (October 2024)	Verizon Communications
19	South Africa	Vodacom	List South Africa Lesotho Mozambique DRC Tanzania Kenya (Safaricom) (34.94%) Ethiopia (Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia)	List GSM,	154.9^[20] (May 2024)	Vodafone Group Plc (65.1%) Institutional Investors (15.76%) Government of South Africa (13.54%) YeboYethu (6.23%) Retail positions (2.96%) Wheatfield Investments(0.84%) Others(0.17%)
20	Qatar	Ooredoo QSC	List Algeria (Ooredoo) (46.4%) Indonesia (Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison) Iraq (Asia Cell) (30%) Kuwait Maldives Myanmar (Ooredoo) Oman (Ooredoo) Qatar Tunisia	List CDMA, EV-DO, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE	121^[21] (2021)	Government of Qatar
21	HKG	CK Hutchison Holdings – Telecom Division	List Hong Kong (3) Macau United Kingdom (Three) Austria Sweden Denmark Indonesia (Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison) Sri Lanka (Hutch) Italy (Wind Tre) Vietnam (Vietnamobile) Ireland (Three)	List CDMA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, LTE	120^[22](2022)	CK Hutchison Holdings
22	Vietnam	Viettel Group	List Burundi (Lumitel) Cambodia (Metfone) Cameroon (Nexttel) East Timor (Telemor) Haiti (Natcom) Laos (Unitel) Mozambique (Movitel) Myanmar (Mytel) Peru (Bitel) Tanzania (Halotel) Vietnam	List CDMA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE	110.0^[23] (December 2018)	Government of Vietnam
23	Norway	Telenor ASA	List Bangladesh (Grameenphone) Denmark (Telenor) Finland (DNA PLC) Malaysia (CelcomDigi (33.1%)) Norway (Telenor) Sweden (Telenor) Thailand (True (26.32%))	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR	93.0^[24]^[25] (March 2024)	Government of Norway (53.97%) Public stock (41.74%) The Government Pension Fund of Norway (4.79%)
24	Iran	MTN Irancell	List Iran	List GSM 900/1800 MHz (GPRS, EDGE) 2100/900 MHz (HSPA, DC-HSPA+) 1800/2600/2100/900 MHz (LTE, LTE-A), (VoLTE, VoWiFi)	92.46^[26] (April 2020)	TCI (94.09%) Sukuk (5.91%)
25	India	BSNL Mobile	List India (BSNL Mobile & MTNL, Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Limited ^{[Note 1]}^[27]^[28]^[29]	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA, HSDPA, TD-HSDPA, HSPA+ , LTE, TD-LTE, FD-LTE, LTE Advanced	88.94^[30] (April 2024)^{[Note 2]}^[27]	Government of India
26	Russia	Mobile TeleSystems (MTS)	List Russia (MTS) Armenia (VivaCell-MTS) Belarus (MTS)	List CDMA, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, LTE	83.85^[31] (Q3 2021)	Sistema (50.8%)
27	Japan	NTT Docomo Inc.	List Japan	List UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE, TD-LTE, FD-LTE, LTE Advanced	82.63^[32] (May 2021)	Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
28	Russia	MegaFon	List Russia Tajikistan	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA LTE, LTE Advanced	70.5^[33] (Q1 2021)	AF Telecom Holding LLC (56.32%) USM Telecom LLC (43.68%)
29	Philippines	Globe Telecom Inc.	List Philippines (Globe, TM, GOMO)	List CDMA, EV-DO, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA+, LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G VoLTE, VoWIFI, eSIM	53.73^[34] (Aug 2023)	Asiacom (50.81%) Singtel (20.08%) Public stock (15.65%) Ayala Corporation (13.19%) Directors, Officers, Executive Stock Option Plan (0.26%)
30	Philippines	PLDT Inc.	List Philippines (Smart, TNT, Sun Cellular)	List GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSPA, HSPA+, 3GPP, LTE, LTE Advanced, WiMAX, 5G VoLTE, VoWIFI, ViLTE, eSIM	52.5^[35] (Aug 2023)	Public (41.55%) NTT Docomo (14.5%) Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corp. (12.05%) JG Summit Holdings (11.27%) Metro Pacific Resources, Inc. (9.98%) NTT Communications Corp (5.85%) First Pacific (3.54%)

Satellite based

This is a list of the world's five largest satellite phone network operators measured by number of subscribers.

Rank	Operator	Technology	Subscribers (in millions)	Ownership
1	Iridium	Proprietary TDMA	0.824 (June 2016)^[36]
2	Globalstar	Proprietary CDMA	0.638 (March 2015)^[37]
3	Thuraya	Proprietary FDMA/GSM	0.260 (December 2007)^[38]	Etisalat (28%)
4	Inmarsat	Proprietary GSM	0.254 (September 2009)^[39]
5	ACeS	Dual-mode Satellite/GSM	0.020 (December 2007)

Footnotes

^ BSNL and MTNL merger approved by Government of India.
^ After adding subscribers of MTNL to BSNL, because MTNL will merge with BSNL.

References

^ "Monthly Customer Data". 30 April 2024.
^ "Quarterly Highlights Report" (PDF). 31 March 2024.
^ "Trai Press Release 23/2024" (PDF). 31 March 2024.
^ "China Telecom Monthly Reports". China Telecom Corporation. 30 April 2024.
^ "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). 31 December 2023.
^ "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). 31 December 2023.
^ "1Q 2024 Reports" (PDF). 31 March 2024.
^ "1Q Results 2024". 31 March 2024.
^ "Q1 Results 2024" (PDF). 31 March 2024.
^ "Interim Group Report 1Q 2024" (PDF). 31 March 2024.
^ "Non-controlling equity interest: Iraq". Orange. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020.
^ "Q1 Press Release 2024". 31 March 2024.
^ "Vi Results June 2024" (PDF). 30 June 2024.
^ "AT&T Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results". about.att.com. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
^ "AT&T INC. Ownership summary| NASDAQ". nasdaq.com. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
^ "Axiata Integrated 2019 Annual Report 2023" (PDF).
^ "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). December 2023.
^ "Etisalat 2Q Report 2020" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
^ "Verizon delivers strong third quarter results with customer growth in mobility, extending industry leadership" (Press release). Retrieved 22 October 2024.
^ "Group Results 24".
^ "Q1 2021 Results" (PDF). Ooredoo. April 2021. p. 12.
^ "Customer base, 2019" (PDF). CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. 19 March 2020.
^ "Viettel to become a digital service provider this year". Viettel Group. 14 December 2019.
^ "Telenor Group's Results 1Q 2024" (PDF). 31 March 2024.
^ "PTCL acquires 100% shares of Telenor Pakistan for Rs108 billion". 15 December 2023.
^ سهم بازار اپراتورهای همراه در سه ماهه نخست سال جاری [Mobile operators' market share in the first quarter of this year]. rond.ir (in Persian). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b "MTNL to be act as BSNL subsidiary Till Merger Complete". The Hindu. 29 June 2019.
^ "Government approves Revival package for BSNL, MTNL". The Economic Times. 23 October 2019.
^ "BSNL, MTNL to be merged, along with special package". India Today. 23 October 2019.
^ "TRAI subscription data". April 2022.
^ "Q1 2021 Results" (PDF). MTS. 18 May 2021. p. 2.
^ "NTT FY2020" (PDF). 12 May 2021.
^ "KPI Q1 2020". MegaFon. 28 May 2020.
^ "Report 1Q 2021" (PDF). 7 May 2021. p. 4.
^ "Financial highlights 1Q 2021" (PDF). 6 May 2021.
^ "Iridium Q2 2016 Results" (PDF). 30 June 2016.
^ "Globestar Announces Q1 2015 Results". Globalstar.com. 31 March 2015.
^ "Thuraya Launches SMS Info Service with CNN" (Press release). Thuraya. 27 November 2007. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010.
^ "INMARSAT HOLDINGS LIMITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL RESULTS For the three and nine months ended 30 September 2009 (unaudited)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2012.

External links

List of all mobile network operators in the World divided by country