New Delhi: India’s telecom sector is seeing an interesting shift. While mobile subscribers dropped slightly in the last year, internet users and industry revenue saw healthy growth. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its latest annual performance report on July 8, 2025, showing a mixed bag of numbers across wireless, broadband, and broadcast services.
The big takeaway? More Indians are using internet data than ever before. But mobile connections, especially in urban areas, have dipped a bit. Meanwhile, wireline and broadband numbers are going up, and telecom companies are making more money per user than last year.
Broadband hits new high, narrowband keeps shrinking
As of March 31, 2025, India had 969.10 million internet subscribers, up from 954.40 million the previous year. Out of this, 944.12 million were broadband users, showing a 2.17% annual growth. Narrowband usage, though, is fading fast; it dropped 17.66% in one year to just 24.98 million users.
The wireless internet user base alone grew by 2.87% and now sits at 939.51 million subscribers. And yes, Indians are consuming more data. Total wireless data usage jumped from 1,94,774 PB to 2,28,779 PB, that’s a 17.46% rise in a single year.
TRAI also reported that the average data usage per subscriber per month now stands at 21.53 GB, while the average revenue per GB earned by telecom companies is ₹8.97.
Mobile subscriber count takes a hit
This year’s data also shows a small but notable drop in mobile connections. Wireless (Mobile + 5G FWA) subscribers declined by 0.15%, with a net loss of 1.74 million users. The total now stands at 1,163.76 million, down from 1,165.49 million a year ago.
Breaking that down, mobile-only subscribers fell to 1,156.99 million, recording a deeper drop of 0.73%. Both urban and rural wireless teledensity also declined, with urban numbers dipping from 127.51% to 124.83% and rural from 58.87% to 58.67%.
Interestingly, wireline connections are on the rise, climbing 9.62% in a year to reach 37.04 million. This suggests that more users, especially in cities, are switching back to fixed-line services for stable broadband.
ARPU, usage, and revenue trends point upward
TRAI’s report also shows telecom companies are earning more per user. Monthly ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) for wireless services rose from ₹149.25 last year to ₹174.46, marking a 16.89% increase. Prepaid ARPU rose, but postpaid ARPU dipped slightly to ₹180.86.
Call usage is also up. Average minutes of usage per subscriber went up from 963 minutes to 1,000 minutes per month. Prepaid users drove this rise, increasing their average to 1,047 minutes per month, while postpaid usage slipped to 503 minutes.
Telecom operators earned a total ₹3,72,097 crore in gross revenue, up by 10.72% from the previous year. Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) stood at ₹3,03,025 crore, a 12.02% jump.
DTH and TV subscribers decline, community radio expands
In the broadcasting space, private DTH pay subscribers dropped from 61.97 million to 56.92 million. The number of private FM radio stations remains at 388, but community radio stations rose to 531, up from 494 last year.
As of March 2025, the number of pay TV channels stands at 333, out of which 101 are HD channels.
Urban-rural digital gap still wide
Urban internet penetration stands at 110.79 per 100 people, while rural is still lagging at 45.03 per 100 people. Rural teledensity fell slightly to 59.06%, showing that the digital divide remains a challenge.
The report shows clear signs that internet adoption is growing, but not evenly. Fixed-line broadband is picking up, especially in urban areas, but mobile subscriber churn and rural network growth need closer attention.
TRAI’s full report is available for public viewing and gives a detailed view of India’s telecom health as of March 31, 2025.