Dialling up the digits India’s telecom counts a quarter of steady gains

MUMBAI: India’s telecom numbers are ringing loud again, and this time the caller tune is pure growth. TRAI’s latest Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report for July–September 2025 shows the sector quietly but firmly notching up gains across subscribers, revenue, and data consumption even as cable, DTH, and radio continue to track their own shifts.

For starters, India’s Internet universe grew wider, climbing from 1002.85 million users in June to 1017.81 million by September, marking a tidy 1.49 per cent quarterly rise. Of these, 995.63 million were broadband users up 1.63 per cent while narrowband dropped to 22.18 million, continuing its slow glide into irrelevance. Wireless continues to dominate, accounting for 973.39 million of all Internet connections.

The broader telecom subscriber count also ticked up. Total telephone users rose to 1,228.94 million, up 0.87 per cent from the previous quarter, pushing India’s tele-density to 86.65 per cent. Urban tele-density now sits at a booming 134.76 per cent, while rural areas inched to 59.52 per cent. But the rural share of total subscriptions slipped marginally from 44.20 per cent to 43.93 per cent, showing the urban surge continues to power ahead.

Wireless remains the heavyweight, adding 11.45 million users to reach 1,182.32 million, a 0.98 per cent quarterly rise. Of this, 1,170.44 million were mobile subscribers. Wireless tele-density climbed to 83.36 per cent.

Wireline, meanwhile, rang in a quieter quarter. Connections dipped to 46.61 million, down 1.84 per cent, although the segment shows a healthy 26.21 per cent year-on-year rise, thanks largely to fibre-led broadband adoption.

If operators were looking for good news, they found it in revenue. Wireless ARPU rose 2.34 per cent, climbing from Rs.186.62 in June to Rs.190.99 in September. Prepaid users averaged Rs.189.69, while postpaid stood at Rs.204.55. Wireless usage clocked 1005 minutes per subscriber per month, a marginal dip from 1006, though prepaid users towered at 1052 minutes compared to postpaid’s 516.

On the financial side, the sector posted strong numbers:

● Gross Revenue (GR): Rs.99,828 crore, up 3.29 per cent

● Applicable GR: Rs.94,301 crore, up 2.22 per cent

● Adjusted GR: Rs.82,348 crore, up 1.26 per cent

Year-on-year, the increases were even sharper 9.19 per cent for GR and 9.35 per cent for AGR. Licence fees rose to Rs.6,588 crore. Pass-through charges jumped 9.26 per cent sequentially to Rs.11,426 crore, though still showing an 11.61 per cent annual decline.

Access services which include mobile continued to dominate the industry, contributing 84.07 per cent of AGR.

On the broadcasting front, India now houses 916 permitted private satellite TV channels, of which 334 are pay channels (232 SD + 102 HD). Pay DTH subscribers dropped from 56.07 million to 52.78 million, even as DD Free Dish continues to quietly expand its reach.

In radio, private FM channels shrank from 388 to 387 after one operator shuttered its Gwalior station. Yet, revenues grew from Rs.383.14 crore to Rs.399.96 crore across these 387 stations, while 548 community radio stations remain operational nationwide.

The quarter also logged some massive digital usage markers. Wireless data consumption crossed 69,090 PB, with the average wireless data user consuming 25.24 GB per month. Wi-Fi hotspots reached 55,940, with 10,778 TB of data consumed.

Quality of Service metrics brought cheer too, all wireline operators and all wireless operators met every QoS benchmark across all service areas, spanning call setup, packet drops, outages, and billing.

In short, India’s telecom engine is humming steadily more broadband, more data, higher revenues, tighter QoS, and a subscriber base that refuses to slow down. The next quarter’s curve may bend higher or flatter, but for now, the sector’s signals are strong, stable, and unmistakably green.