Digital India is growing. More and more people have access to the internet today. According to a report by TRAI, internet subscribers in India touched 881.25 million in March 2023.
Total number of Internet subscribers increased from 865.90 million at the end of December 2022 to 881.25 million at the end of March 20223, registering a quarterly growth rate of 1.77 percent. Out of 881.25 million internet subscribers, the number of ‘wired internet’ subscribers is 33.94 million and the number of wireless internet subscribers is 847.31 million.
The Internet subscriber base consists of a broadband internet subscriber base of 846.57 million and a narrowband internet subscriber base of 34.69 million.
As per the TRAI report released this August, the broadband internet subscriber base increased by 1.73 percent from 832.20 million at the end of December-22 to 846.57 million at the end of March-23. The narrowband internet subscriber base increased by 2.94 percent from 33.70 million at the end of December-22 to 34.69 million at the end of March-23. On the other hand, wireline subscribers increased from 27.45 million at the end of December 2022 to 28.41 million at the end of March 2023 with a quarterly growth rate of 3.48 percent and on Y-O-Y basis, wireline subscriptions also increased by 14.37 percent at the end of the first quarter of this calendar year.
Wireline tele-density increased from 1.98 percent at the end of December 2022 to 2.05 percent at the end of March 2023 with quarterly growth rate of 3.25 percent.
The report further included that Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 0.83 percent, from Rs.141.14 in QE December-22 to Rs.142.32 in QE March-23. On a Y-OY basis, monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 11.91 percent in this quarter. Prepaid ARPU per month increased from Rs.137.71 in QE December-22 to Rs.139.63 in QE March-23, however, Postpaid ARPU per month decreased from Rs.182.30 in QE December-22 to Rs.173.50 in QE March-23.
On an all-India average, the overall MOU per subscriber per month increased by 2.97 percent from 919 in Q.E. December-2022 to 946 in Q.E. March-2023. Prepaid MOU per subscriber per month increased from 950 in QE December-22 to 983 in QE March-23. Postpaid MOU per subscriber per month decreased from 542 in QE December-22 to 518 in QE March-23.
Gross Revenue (GR), Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of the telecom service sector for the Q.E. March-23 has been Rs.85,356 crore, Rs.78,631 crore and Rs.64,494/- crore respectively. GR decreased by 3.19 percent, ApGR increased by 2.62 percent and AGR increased by 2.53 percent in Q.E. March-23, as compared to the previous quarter. The Y-O-Y rate of growth in GR, ApGR and AGR in Q.E. March-23 over the same quarter in last year has been 11.69 percent, 11.12 percent and 9.52 percent respectively.
The report also mentioned that pass-through charges increased from Rs.14,381 crore in QE December-22 to Rs.14,725 crore in QE March-23 with quarterly growth rate of 2.39 percent. The YO-Y rate of growth 8.53 percent has been recorded in pass-through charges for QE March-23. While License Fee increased from Rs.5,031 crore for the QE December-22 to Rs.5,159 crore for the QE March-23. The quarterly and the Y-O-Y rates of growth in license fee are 2.53 percent and 9.47 percent respectively in this quarter.