TRAI today has released the “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter ending 31^st December, 2024. This Report provides a broad perspective of the Telecom Services in India and presents the key parameters and growth trends of the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadcasting services in India for the period covering 1^st October, 2024 to 31^st December, 2024 compiled mainly on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.

Executive Summary of the Report is enclosed. The complete Report is available on TRAI’s website (www.trai.gov.in and under the link http://www. trai.gov.in/release-publication/reports/performance-indicators-reports). Any suggestion or any clarification pertaining to this report, Shri Vijay Kumar, Advisor (F&EA), TRAI may be contacted on Tel. +91-20907773 and e-mail: advfea1@trai.gov.in.

 

The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators

October–December, 2024

Executive Summary

 

1. Total number of Internet subscribers decreased from 971.50 million at the end of Sep-24 to 970.16 million at the end of Dec-24, registering a quarterly rate of decline 0.14%. Out of 970.16 million internet subscribers, number of Wired Internet subscribers are 41.21 million and number of Wireless Internet subscribers are 928.96 million.

Composition of internet subscription

 

 

2. The Internet subscriber base is comprised of Broadband Internet subscriber base of 944.96 million and Narrowband Internet subscriber base of 25.20 million.
3. The broadband Internet subscriber base increased by 0.06% from 944.39 million at the end of Sep-24 to 944.96 million at the end of Dec-24. The narrowband Internet subscriber base decreased from 27.11 million at the end of Sep-24 to 25.20 million at the end of Dec-24.

4. Wireline subscribers increased from 36.93 million at the end of Sep-24 to 39.27 million at the end of Dec-24 with a quarterly rate of growth 6.32% and, on Y-O-Y basis, wireline subscriptions also increased by 23.32% at the end of QE Dec-24.
5. Wireline Tele-density increased from 2.63% at the end of Sep-24 to 2.79% at the end of Dec-24 with quarterly rate of growth 6.09%.
6. Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 5.34%, from Rs.172.57 in QE Sep-24 to Rs.181.80 in QE Dec-24. On Y-O-Y basis, monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 19.17% in this quarter.

7. The ARPU per month for the pre-paid segment is Rs.180.91 and for the post-paid segment is Rs.191.51 in Q.E. Dec-2024.                               
8. On an all-India average, the overall MOU per month Increased by 3.62% from 974 in Q.E. Sep 2024 to 1009 in Q.E. Dec 2024. 

9. Prepaid MOU per subscriber is 1053 and Postpaid MOU per subscriber per month is 526 in QE Dec-24.

10. Gross Revenue (GR), Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Service Sector for the Q.E. Dec-24 has been Rs.96,390 Crore, Rs.92,342 crore and Rs.77,934 Crore respectively.  GR increased by 5.43%, ApGR increased by 4.65% and AGR increased by 3.48% in Q.E. Dec-24, as compared to previous quarter. 

11. The Y-O-Y rate of growth in GR, ApGR and AGR in Q.E. Dec-24 over the same quarter in last year has been 14.07%, 13.86% and 14.89% respectively.

12. Pass Through Charges increased from Rs.12,926 Crore in QE Sep-24 to Rs.14,410 Crore in QE Dec-24 with quarterly rate of growth by 11.48%. The Y-O-Y rate of growth 7.12% has been recorded in pass-through charges for QE Dec-24.
13. The License Fee increased from Rs.6,023 Crore for the QE Sep-24 to Rs.6,234 Crore for the QE Dec-24. The quarterly and the  Y-O-Y rates of growth in license fees are 3.50% and 14.75% respectively in this quarter.       

 

Service-wise composition of Adjusted Gross Revenue

 

14. Access services contributed 84.35% of the total Adjusted Gross Revenue of telecom services. In Access services, Gross Revenue (GR), Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR), Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR), License Fee, Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) and Pass Through Charges increased by 4.87%, 4.52%, 4.30%, 4.28%, 4.62% and 5.96% respectively in QE Dec-24.
15. The number of telephone subscribers in India decreased from 1,190.66 million at the end of Sep-24 to 1,189.92 million at the end of Dec-24, registering a rate of decline 0.06% over the previous quarter. This reflects Year-On-Year (Y-O-Y) rate of decline 0.03% over the same quarter of the last year. The overall Tele-density in India decreased from 84.69% as in QE Sep-24 to 84.45% as in QE Dec-24.

 

Trends in Telephone subscribers and Tele-density in India

 

16. Telephone subscribers in Urban areas increased from 662.15 million at the end of Sep-24 to 662.72 million at the end of Dec-24 however Urban Tele-density decreased from 131.86% to 131.37% during the same period.
17. Rural telephone subscribers decreased from 528.51 million at the end of Sep-24 to 527.20 million at the end of Dec-24 and Rural Tele-density also decreased from 58.48% to 58.29% during the same period.

18. Out of the total subscription, the share of Rural subscription decreased from 44.39% at the end of Sep-24 to 44.31% at the end of Dec-24.

Composition of Telephone Subscribers

   

19. With a net loss of 3.07 million subscribers during the quarter, the total wireless subscriber base decreased from 1153.72 million at the end of Sep-24 to 1150.66 million at the end of Dec-24, registering a rate of decline 0.27% over the previous quarter. On Y-O-Y basis, wireless subscriptions decreased at the rate of 0.68% during the year.  
20. Wireless Tele-density decreased from 82.07% at the end of Sep-24 to 81.67% at the end of Dec-24 with quarterly rate of decline of 0.49%.

21. During this quarter, the following parameters in terms of QoS benchmarks have been fully complied by wireline service providers: -

21. 1. Point of Interconnection (POI) Congestion (90th percentile value) ≤ 0.5%
22. During this quarter, list of QoS parameters which are fully complied by all the Access Service (Wireless) providers in all the LSAs: -

 

S.No.	Parameter	Benchmark
1	Percentage of significant network outage (services not available in a district for more than 4 hours) reported to the Authority within 24 hrs of start of the outage	100%
2	Point of Interconnection (POI) Congestion (90th percentile value)	≤ 0.5%
3	Latency (in 4G and 5G network)	≤ 75 msec
4	Packet Drop Rate (in 4G and 5G network)	≤ 3%
5	Billing and charging complaints	≤ 0.1%
6	Application of adjustment to customer’s account within one week from the date of resolution of billing and charging complaints or rectification of faults or rectification of significant network outage, as applicable	100%
7	Accessibility of call centre/ customer care	≥ 95%
8	Termination/ closure of service within seven working days of receipt of customer’s request	100%
9	Refund of deposits within 45 days of closure of service or non-provisioning of service	100%

23. A total of approximately 914 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for uplinking only/downlinking only/both uplinking & downlinking.  
24. As per the reporting done by broadcasters in pursuance of the Tariff Order dated 3^rd March 2017, as amended, out of 904 permitted satellite TV channels which are available for downlinking in India, there are 362 satellite pay TV channels as on 31^st December, 2024. Out of 362 pay channels, 258 are SD satellite pay TV channels and 104 are HD satellite pay TV channels.  
25. During the QE 31^st December 2024, there were 4 pay DTH service providers in the country.

26. Pay DTH has attained total active subscriber base of around 58.22 million. This is in addition to the subscribers of the DD Free Dish (free DTH services of Doordarshan). The total active subscriber base has decreased from 59.91 million in September 2024 to 58.22 million in December 2024.
27. Apart from the radio channels operated by All India Radio – the public broadcaster, as per the data reported by FM Radio operators to TRAI, as on 31^st December 2024, there are 388 operational private FM Radio channels in 113 cities operated by 36 private FM Radio operators. As compared to the previous quarter, there is no change in the number of operational private FM Radio channels, cities and FM Radio operators.

28. The advertisement revenue reported by FM Radio operators during the quarter ending 31^st December 2024 in respect of 388 private FM Radio channels is Rs.500.11 crore as against Rs.423.52 crore in respect of 388 private FM Radio channels for the previous quarter. 

29. As on 31^st December, 2024, 529 Community Radio stations are operational.

SNAPSHOT

(Data as on Q.E. 31st December, 2024)
Telecom Subscribers (Wireless+Wireline)
Total Subscribers	1189.92 Million
% change over the previous quarter	-0.06%
Urban Subscribers	662.72 Million
Rural Subscribers	527.20 Million
Market share of Private Operators	91.45%
Market share of PSU Operators	8.55%
Tele-density	84.45%
Urban Tele-density	131.37%
Rural Tele-density	58.29%
Wireless Subscribers
Total Wireless Subscribers	1,150.66 Million
% change over the previous quarter	-0.27%
Urban Subscribers	626.43 Million
Rural Subscribers	524.23 Million
Market share of Private Operators	91.92%
Market share of PSU Operators	8.08%
Tele-density	81.67%
Urban Tele-density	124.18%
Rural Tele-density	57.96%
Total Wireless Data Usage during the quarter	56,975 PB
Number of Public Mobile Radio Trunk Services (PMRTS)	65,996
Number of Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT)	2,52,612
Wireline Subscribers
Total Wireline Subscribers	39.27 Million
% change over the previous quarter	6.32%
Urban Subscribers	36.29 Million
Rural Subscribers	2.98 Million
Market share of PSU Operators	22.23%
Market share of Private Operators	77.77%
Tele-density	2.79%
Rural Tele-density	0.33%
Urban Tele-density	7.19%
No. of Village Public Telephones (VPT)	68,606
No. of Public Call Office (PCO)	13,442

 

Telecom Financial Data
Gross Revenue (GR) during the quarter	Rs. 96,390/- crore
% change in GR over the previous quarter	5.43%
Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) during quarter	Rs. 92,342/- crore
% change in ApGR over the previous quarter	4.65%
Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) during the quarter	Rs.77,934/- crore
% change in AGR over the previous quarter	3.48%
Share of Public sector undertakings in Access AGR	3.72%
Internet/Broadband Subscribers
Total Internet Subscribers	970.16 Million
% change over previous quarter	-0.14%
Narrowband subscribers	25.20 Million
Broadband subscribers	944.96 Million
Wired Internet Subscribers	41.21 Million
Wireless Internet Subscribers	928.96 Million
Urban Internet Subscribers	563.19 Million
Rural Internet Subscribers	406.97 Million   M
Total Internet Subscribers per 100 population	68.86
Urban Internet Subscribers per 100 population	111.64
Rural Internet Subscribers per 100 population	44.99
Total Outgoing Minutes of Usage for Internet Telephony	87.53 Million
No. of Public Wi-Fi Hotspots	46,878
Aggregate Data Consumed (TB) for Wi-Fi Hotspots	15,714
Broadcasting & Cable Services
Number of private satellite TV channels permitted by the Ministry of I&B for uplinking only/downlinking only/both uplinking and downlinking	914
Number of Pay TV Channels as reported by broadcasters	362
Number of private FM Radio Stations (excluding All India Radio)	388
Number of total active subscribers with pay DTH operators	58.22 Million
Number of Operational Community Radio Stations	529
Number of pay DTH Operators	4
Revenue & Usage Parameters
Monthly ARPU of Wireless Service	Rs.181.80
Minutes of Usage (MOU) per subscriber per month - Wireless Service	1009
Wireless Data Usage
Average Wireless Data Usage per wireless data subscriber per month	21.52 GB
Average revenue realization per GB for wireless data usage during the quarter	Rs.9.34

 

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Samrat

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