Largest Telecom Companies (2026)

China Mobile is the largest telecommunications company in the world by sales in the Forbes data. It provides mobile, broadband and related services across every province, autonomous region and directly administered municipality of mainland China and in Hong Kong, and its IP core network supports GSM, TD-SCDMA, TD-LTE and LTE FDD services. The listed company, founded on 3 September 1997, is headquartered in Hong Kong. With about 461,000 employees in the Forbes data it has the largest workforce in the ranking. Its sales rose about 3% between the two Forbes datasets while its net profit was almost unchanged at about US$19bn.

Verizon is the largest US-headquartered telecom operator by sales in the Forbes data. It reports two segments: Consumer, which sells wireless and wireline services to households, and Business, which sells wireless, fixed wireless access broadband, data, video and conferencing, corporate networking, security and managed network services and IoT connectivity to companies and government. It is headquartered in New York and Forbes gives 1983 as its founding year. Forbes lists Daniel Schulman as chief executive. Its sales rose about 3% between the two datasets, and its net profit of about US$17.3bn was the fourth highest in the list.

Deutsche Telekom is Germany's incumbent operator and the largest European telecom group by sales. Its segments are Germany, United States, Europe (national operators in countries including Greece, Romania, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic), Systems Solutions, Group Development and Group Headquarters and Group Services. The United States segment consolidates T-Mobile US; in February 2026 Deutsche Telekom said it held 52.8% of T-Mobile US's capital and planned no sale of T-Mobile US shares in 2026. Because of that consolidation, T-Mobile US does not appear separately in the Forbes data. Deutsche Telekom's sales rose about 10% between the two datasets.

AT&T provides wireless, wireline and broadband services to consumers and businesses in the United States and to businesses globally through its Communications segment, and runs a wireless business in Mexico through its Latin America segment. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and its chief executive is John Stankey. Its net profit of about US$21.4bn was the second highest in the ranking in the Forbes data, after SoftBank Group's, up from about US$11.9bn a year earlier, while sales rose about 3%. AT&T and Verizon have similar sales, but Verizon ranks higher by that measure.

NTT, listed in the previous year's Forbes data as Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, is Japan's largest telecom group by sales. Its segments are Integrated ICT Business (mobile, inter-prefectural and international communications, solutions and system development), Regional Communications Business (intra-prefectural communications in Japan), Global Solutions Business and Others. It is headquartered in Tokyo and Forbes lists Akira Shimada as chief executive. Its sales rose about 6% between the two Forbes datasets. Forbes did not publish an employee count for the company.

China Telecom is the second-largest of the three mainland Chinese operators in the list by sales. It provides wireline and mobile voice, internet access, information applications, managed data and leased lines, and sells and maintains customer equipment. It was founded on 10 September 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing. Its sales were roughly flat between the two Forbes datasets, at about US$73bn, and its net margin of about 6% is lower than China Mobile's 13%.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) is the listed holding company for the third of the mainland Chinese operators in the list. Through its subsidiaries it provides voice, broadband and mobile data services, data and internet applications, leased lines and telecommunications products. It was founded on 8 February 2000 and is headquartered in Hong Kong. Forbes records about 11,700 employees for the listed company, far fewer than China Mobile or China Telecom report, which suggests that the figure covers only part of the group. Its sales and profit were almost unchanged between the two datasets.

SoftBank Group is included because Forbes classifies it under telecommunications services, but it is a holding company whose segments are the SoftBank Vision Fund (technology investments), SoftBank (mobile, broadband and fixed telecom services in Japan), Arm (processor design) and Others. Masayoshi Son founded it on 3 September 1981. Its net profit of about US$33.1bn in the Forbes data, up from about US$5.6bn, was the highest in the ranking, and its market value of about US$206bn was the second highest after China Mobile's. Because its results combine investment, chip-design and telecom businesses, its figures are not directly comparable with those of the operators in the list.

América Móvil, based in Mexico City, operates fixed and mobile networks in Mexico and across Latin America and the Caribbean, and has a European arm covering Austria and several countries in south-eastern Europe. Its reporting segments are Mexico Wireless, Mexico Fixed, Brazil, Colombia, the Southern Cone, the Andean region, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. It offers wireless voice and data, fixed voice and broadband, IT services and pay TV. Its net profit roughly tripled between the two Forbes datasets, to about US$4.7bn, on sales up about 8%.

Vodafone Group provides mobile, fixed broadband, television and converged services in Europe and internationally, together with IoT connectivity, cloud and security services for businesses. It is headquartered in Newbury in the United Kingdom, and Margherita della Valle is chief executive. Vodafone sold its Italian business to Swisscom, which completed the purchase on 31 December 2024. It reported a net loss of about US$479m in the Forbes data, against a profit a year earlier, while its sales rose about 31% between the two datasets. Forbes did not publish an employee count for Vodafone.

Orange is the French incumbent operator, providing mobile and internet services to consumers and businesses. It serves multinational companies through its Orange Business Services unit. Forbes gives 1 January 1991 as its founding date and Paris as its headquarters, and lists Christel Heydemann as chief executive. Its sales rose about 5% between the two Forbes datasets, but its net profit fell to about US$607m from about US$2.5bn.

Telefónica, founded on 19 April 1924, is the oldest company in the ranking apart from Swisscom and is headquartered in Madrid. Its segments are Telefónica Spain, VMO2 (its UK business), Telefónica Germany, Telefónica Brazil and Telefónica Hispam (other Latin American operations). Its sales fell about 8% between the two Forbes datasets and it reported a net loss of about US$4.9bn, the second-largest loss in the list after EchoStar. Marc Murtra is chief executive.

KDDI is a Japanese telecom group headquartered in Tokyo. Its Personal Services segment sells communications, energy, education, commerce, finance and entertainment services to individuals; its Business Services segment provides communications, ICT solutions and data-centre services to companies; and Others covers network construction and research. Forbes' profile says it was founded by Kazuo Inamori and is headquartered in Tokyo. Its sales rose about 4% and its profit about 13% between the two datasets.

BT Group is the United Kingdom's incumbent operator. It reports Consumer (mobile, broadband, home phone and television), Enterprise (communications and IT services for businesses and the public sector), Global (managed network and IT infrastructure services) and Openreach, the subsidiary that builds and manages the fixed access network used by BT and other providers. It is headquartered in London and Allison Kirkby is chief executive. Its sales were almost unchanged between the two Forbes datasets, at about US$26.2bn, while net profit rose about 28%.

Bharti Airtel is the largest telecom company in the ranking headquartered in India. Its segments cover mobile services in India, South Asia (Sri Lanka) and Africa, Airtel Business, tower infrastructure, home broadband and digital TV. Its sales rose about 23% between the two Forbes datasets, one of the fastest rates in the list, and its market value of about US$121bn was the sixth highest. Reliance Industries, which reports a Digital Services segment alongside its refining, retail and other businesses, is classified by Forbes under oil and gas and is therefore not ranked.

Saudi Telecom Company, which trades as stc, establishes and operates fixed and mobile networks and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and abroad. It was founded on 21 April 1998 and is headquartered in Riyadh. Its net profit of about US$4.0bn gives it a net margin of about 19%, one of the highest among operators in the list, and its profit rose about 27% between the two Forbes datasets on sales up about 3%. Forbes did not publish an employee count.

Emirates Telecommunications Group, which uses the e& brand, is headquartered in Abu Dhabi. Its segments are e& UAE operations, e& International, e& Life (consumer digital services), e& Enterprise and Others, and it also provides contracting and consultancy services to other operators. Forbes still lists it under the former name Etisalat. Its sales rose about 27% between the two Forbes datasets, the third-fastest growth in the list after Swisscom and Vodafone, and its profit rose about 11%. Forbes gives 1976 as its founding year.

KT provides fixed, mobile and converged communications services in South Korea and also has finance (credit card), satellite broadcasting, real-estate and content businesses. It was founded on 20 December 1981 and is headquartered in Seongnam. Its net profit roughly tripled between the two Forbes datasets, to about US$1.1bn, while sales rose about 2%. Its Global 2000 position of 1,042nd is lower than its sales alone would suggest because of its modest profit and market value.

Swisscom is Switzerland's incumbent operator and, since completing its acquisition of Vodafone Italia on 31 December 2024, also a major operator in Italy, where it is combining Vodafone Italia with its Fastweb subsidiary under the corporate brand Fastweb + Vodafone. Its reporting segments are Switzerland, Italy and Others. The acquisition explains most of the rise in its sales, from about US$12.5bn to about US$18.6bn between the two Forbes datasets, the largest percentage increase in the ranking. Forbes gives 1852 as its founding year and Worblaufen as its headquarters.

BCE is the parent of Bell Canada. Its Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless, internet, television and business services across Canada, and its Bell Media segment owns television, radio, digital media and out-of-home advertising assets. It was founded on 25 February 1970 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada. Its net profit rose to about US$4.7bn in the Forbes data from about US$251m a year earlier, while sales were almost unchanged.

Rogers Communications provides wireless services to Canadian consumers and businesses and also runs cable internet and television services and a media business that includes sports, broadcasting and digital media. Forbes' profile says it was founded by Edward Samuel Rogers Jr. and gives Calgary as its headquarters location. Its net profit rose about fourfold between the two Forbes datasets, to about US$5.1bn, on sales up about 8%.

Telecom Italia, which trades as TIM, is Italy's incumbent operator. Its Domestic segment covers fixed and mobile voice and data in Italy, the international wholesale carrier Telecom Italia Sparkle and IT services; its Brazil segment runs mobile and fixed operations in Brazil. It is headquartered in Rome and Pietro Labriola is chief executive. It returned to a small net profit of about US$150m in the Forbes data after a loss a year earlier, on sales up about 2%.

Telstra is the largest Australian company in the telecommunications class of the Forbes ranking. Its segments are Telstra Consumer and Small Business, Telstra Enterprise, Networks and IT, Telstra InfraCo (fixed infrastructure) and All Other. It is headquartered in Melbourne and Vicki Brady is chief executive. Forbes Australia reported that Telstra had sales of US$14.94bn, profit of US$1.46bn and a market value of US$43.03bn in the 2026 ranking. Its sales fell about 2% between the two datasets while its profit rose about 32%.

EchoStar, based in Englewood, Colorado, operates pay-TV, retail wireless and broadband and satellite services businesses in the United States. Forbes lists Charles Ergen as chief executive. EchoStar reported a net loss of about US$14.4bn in the Forbes data, by far the largest in the ranking, and its sales fell about 6%. Its pay-TV business would place it among media companies under some classification systems, but Forbes assigns the group to telecommunications services.

TELUS is a Canadian operator headquartered in Vancouver. Its TELUS Technology Solutions segment includes mobile and fixed network services, equipment sales and healthcare software, and its Digitally-led Customer Experiences segment provides customer-experience and digital transformation services through TELUS International. Darren Entwistle is chief executive. Its sales were almost unchanged between the two Forbes datasets, and its workforce of about 111,500 is the largest among the Canadian companies in the list; that figure includes the customer-experience business.