Teledensity Rises in India, Internet Subscribers Cross 954 Million: 2023-24 TRAI Report

August 23, 2024 Posted by India Briefing Written by Archana Rao Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Indian telecom sector made significant strides during the financial year 2023-24. Between March 2023 and March 2024, the total number of internet subscribers in India increased by 8.3 percent, rising from 881.25 million to 954.4 million. India’s overall teledensity increased from 84.51 percent in March 2023 to 85.69 percent in March 2024, at an annual growth rate of 1.39 percent.

On August 14, 2024, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its report titled “The Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators 2023-24.” The report highlights that the sector’s gross revenue experienced an annual growth of 0.71 percent, rising from INR 3.33 trillion (US$39.6 billion) in 2022-23 to INR 3.36 trillion (US$40 billion) in 2023-24.

The Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) also rose by 6.38 percent, climbing to INR 3.23 trillion (US$38.4 billion) in 2023-24 from INR 3.03 trillion (US$36.1 billion) the previous year. This growth was primarily driven by heightened data consumption and consumer upgrades, resulting in an 8.24 percent increase in telecom providers’ Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR), which surged from INR 2.49 trillion (US$29.6 billion) in 2022-23 to INR 2.7 trillion (US$32.1 billion) in 2023-24.

Asia Market Entry Solutions & Insights

AGR refers to the revenue earned by telecom operators from their core services, such as the provision of mobile and internet services, after excluding certain deductions. In October 2021, the Department of Telecom (DoT) introduced the concept of the applicable gross revenue (ApGR), which is arrived at by removing all non-telecom revenues earned by telecom companies from their gross revenue.

India’s leading telecom service providers in FY 2023-24

Reliance Jio led the Indian telecom sector with 9.62 percent year-on-year AGR growth, rising from INR 892.79 billion (US$10.6 billion) in 2022-23 to INR 978.68 billion (US$11.6 billion) in 2023-24. Bharti Airtel followed with a 12.12 percent increase, reaching INR 805.29 billion (US$9.5 billion).

However, government-owned telecom service providers, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) faced declines of 1.92 percent and 22.34 percent, respectively, with MTNL’s AGR falling from INR 7.85 billion (US$93.5 million) in 2022-23 to INR 6.10 billion (US$72.6 million) in 2023-24.

In terms of the increase in telecom subscribers, the report notes that Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. added 42.42 million (net addition) telephone subscribers as of the end of March 2024.

Service provider	Subscriber base (in million)			Rate of growth	Market share as on Mar-23	Market share as on Mar-24
	Mar-2023	Mar-2024	Yearly net addition/decline
Reliance Jio	439.35	481.77	42.42	9.66 percent	37.48 percent	40.17 percent
Bharti Airtel	378.06	394.54	16.48	4.36 percent	32.25 percent	32.90 percent
Vodafone Idea	237.45	220.60	-16.85	-7.10 percent	20.25 percent	18.39 percent
BSNL	110.79	94.75	-16.04	-14.48 percent	9.45 percent	7.90 percent
MTNL	4.66	4.10	-0.56	-12.00 percent	0.40 percent	0.34 percent
Tata Tele.	1.54	2.29	0.74	48.33 percent	0.13 percent	0.19 percent
Quadrant	0.34	0.41	0.07	21.77 percent	0.03 percent	0.03 percent
Reliance Com.	0.15	0.13	-0.02	-14.20 percent	0.01 percent	0.01 percent
VMIPL	–	0.05	0.05	–	0.00 percent	0.00 percent
APSFL	–	0.64	0.64	–	0.00 percent	0.05 percent
Total	1,172.34	1,199.28	26.94	2.30 percent	100 percent	100 percent

Source: The Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators 2023-2024

Meanwhile, the telecom license fees in India saw an 8.45 percent rise, growing from INR 199.54 billion (US$2.3 billion) in 2022-23 to INR 216.42 billion (US$2.5 billion) in 2023-24.

However, spectrum usage charges (SUC) decreased significantly by 32.20 percent, dropping from INR 49.68 billion (US$592 million) in 2022-23 to INR 33.69 billion (US$401.5 million) in 2023-24.

Private players dominate India’s telecom market

As of March 31, 2024, private telecom service providers dominate the Indian wireless telephone subscription market, holding a 92.26 percent share. In contrast, public sector undertakings (PSUs), specifically BSNL and MTNL, account for only 7.74 percent of the market share. The Adjusted Gross Revenue share for PSUs declined to 6.64 percent in 2023-24, down from 7.04 percent the previous year. However, their AGR contribution slightly increased to INR 179.73 billion (US$2.14 billion) in 2023-24, up from INR 176.05 billion (US$2.09 billion) in 2022-23.

Regarding broadband subscriptions, mobile devices (including dongles and telephones) remain the predominant mode of access, making up 95.58 percent of total broadband subscribers as of March 2024. In contrast, wired internet subscribers represented only 4.33 percent of the total during the same period.

Surge in India’s telephone and internet subscribers in FY 2023-24

India’s Internet Subscribers (As of March 31, 2024)
Internet/broadband subscribers	Access
Total internet subscribers	954.40 million
% change over previous quarter	1.95%
Narrowband subscribers	30.34 million
Broadband subscribers	924.07 million
Wired internet subscribers	40.27 million
Wireless internet subscribers	914.13 million
Urban internet subscribers	556.05 million
Rural internet subscribers	398.35 million
Total internet subscribers per 100 population	68.19
Urban internet subscribers per 100 population	111.75
Rural internet subscribers per 100 population	44.16
Total outgoing minutes of usage for internet telephony	93.47 million
No. of public Wi-Fi hotspots	165,147
Aggregate data consumed (GB)	4,111,451

Source: TRAI

The number of telephone subscribers in India has increased from 1.17 billion in March 2023 to 1.19 billion in March 2024, with a growth rate of 2.30 percent.

Broadband subscribers increased from 846 million in March 2023 to 924 million in March 2024, showing a robust 9.15 percent growth, with 78 million new subscribers.

From March 2023 to March 2024, the total number of internet subscribers in India grew by 8.3 percent, increasing from 881.25 million to 954.4 million.

Wireless data subscribers grew from 846 million in March 2023 to 913 million in March 2024, with a 7.93 percent growth rate.

Data usage surged 21.69 percent, from 1,60,054 PB (Petabyte) in 2022-23 to 1,94,774 PB (Petabyte) in 2023-24.

(US$1 = INR 83.91)

About Us

India Briefing is one of five regional publications under the Asia Briefing brand. It is supported by Dezan Shira & Associates, a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm that assists foreign investors throughout Asia, including through offices in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru in India. Readers may write to india@dezshira.com for support on doing business in India. For a complimentary subscription to India Briefing’s content products, please click here.

Dezan Shira & Associates also maintains offices or has alliance partners assisting foreign investors in China, Hong Kong SAR, Dubai (UAE), Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Italy, Germany, the United States, and Australia.