India’s total number of internet subscribers grew marginally to 971.50 million at the end of September 2024, marking a 0.20% increase from 969.60 million in June, revealed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Of these, 927.86 million were wireless internet subscribers, while 43.64 million used wired internet. Broadband subscribers dominated with 944.39 million users, registering a 0.39% rise, while narrowband subscribers declined to 27.11 million from 28.85 million in the same period.
The telecom sector’s Gross Revenue (GR) saw a significant 6.27% growth over the previous quarter, reaching ₹91,426 crore, with Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) rising by 6.74% to ₹75,310 crore. On a year-on-year basis, AGR recorded an impressive growth of 13.11%. However, the overall telephone subscriber base declined to 1,190.66 million, a 1.24% drop from the previous quarter, leading to a decrease in overall tele-density from 85.95% to 84.69%.
Pay Direct-to-Home (DTH) services reported a dip in active subscribers, dropping from 62.17 million in June to 59.91 million in September 2024. This decrease came alongside the sustained presence of four pay DTH service providers and the continued availability of Doordarshan’s DD Free Dish service. Meanwhile, the private FM radio sector maintained its status quo with 388 operational channels across 113 cities, though advertisement revenues dropped slightly to ₹423.52 crore from ₹428.45 crore in the previous quarter.
The report also highlighted the improving performance of wireline services, with wireline subscribers increasing by 5.20% to 36.93 million during the quarter. Wireline tele-density grew to 2.63%, reflecting sustained demand in this segment. Quality of service benchmarks for wireline providers showed compliance across several parameters, reinforcing the sector’s steady growth.