Auguring well for the Government’s digital mission, India’s total number of Internet subscribers increased from 918.19 million at the end of September 2023 to 936.16 million at the end of December 23, registering a quarterly rate of growth 1.96 per cent. Out of the 936.16 million Internet subscribers, the number of wired Internet subscribers are 38.57 million and number of wireless Internet subscribers are 897.59 million, as per the Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators for the October–December 2023 period released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday.
The Internet subscriber base is comprised of broadband subscriber base of 904.54 million and narrowband Internet subscriber base of 31.62 million. The broadband Internet subscriber base increased by 2.21 per cent from 885 million at the end of September 2023 to 904.54 million at the end of December 2023. The narrowband Internet subscriber base decreased from 33.19 million at the end of September 23 to 31.62 million at the end of December 23, as per TRAI.
The report also shows wireline subscribers increased from 30.98 million at the end of September 2023 to 31.84 million at the end of December 23 with a quarterly rate of growth 2.79 per cent and on yoy basis, wireline subscriptions also increased by 15.98 per cent at the end of the quarter ended December 2023. Wireline tele-density increased from 2.22 per cent at the end of September 2023 to 2.28 per cent at the end of December 23 with quarterly rate of growth 2.56 per cent.
Composition of Telephone Subscribers
The monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 1.93 per cent from Rs149.66 in the quarter ended September 2023 to Rs152.55 in the quarter ended December 2023. On yoy basis, monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 8.09 per cent in this quarter. Prepaid ARPU per month increased from Rs148 in the September (Q3) 2023 to Rs149.56 in the December (Q4) 2023 and postpaid ARPU per month also increased from Rs167.93 in QE Sep-23 to Rs189.08 in Q4 2023.
On an all-India average, the overall MOU per subscriber per month increased by 0.71 per cent from 948 in Q3 2023 to 955 in Q4 of 2023. Prepaid MOU per subscriber is 989 and postpaid MOU per subscriber per month is 536 in Q4 2023.
The revenue (AGR) of telecom service sector for the fourth quarter 2023 has been Rs 84,500 crore, Rs 81,101 crore and Rs 67,835 crore respectively. The GR increased by 2.13 per cent, ApGR increased by 1.70 per cent and AGR increased by 1.88 per cent in Q4, as compared to previous quarter. The yoy rate of growth in GR, ApGR and AGR in Q4 2023 over the same quarter in last year has been -4.16 per cent, 5.84 per cent and 7.84 per cent respectively. Pass through charges increased from Rs13,425 crore in Q3 2023 to Rs13,452 crore in Q4 2023 with quarterly rate of growth by 0.21 per cent.
The yoy rate of decline of 6.46 per cent has been recorded in pass-through charges for Q4 2023. The license fee increased from Rs 5,326 crore for the Q3 2023 to Rs 5,433 crore for the Q4 2023. The quarterly and the yoy rates of growth in license fees are 2.01 per cent and 7.98 per cent respectively in this quarter.
Access services contributed 82.07 per cent of the total adjusted gross revenue of telecom services. The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,181.13 million at the end of September 2023 to 1,190.33 million at the end of December 2023, registering a rate of growth 0.78 per cent over the previous quarter. This reflects yoy rate of growth 1.70 per cent over the same quarter of the last year. The overall tele-density in India increased from 84.76 per cent as in Q3 2023 to 85.23 per cent as in Q4 December 2023.
Telephone subscribers in urban areas increased from 658.46 million at the end of September 2023 to 662.56 million at the end of December 2023 and urban tele-density also increased from 133.54 pr cent to 133.76 per cent during the same period. Rural telephone subscribers increased from 522.66 million at the end of September 2023 to 527.77 million at the end of December 2023 and rural teledensity also increased from 58.05 per cent to 58.56 per cent during the same period. Out of the total subscription, the share of rural subscription increased from 44.25 per cent at the end of September 2023 to 44.34 per cent at the end of December 2023.
With a net increase of 8.34 million subscribers during the quarter, the total wireless subscriber base increased from 1,150.15 million at the end of September 23 to 1,158.49 million at the end of December 2023, registering a rate of growth of 0.72 per cent over the previous quarter. On yoy basis, wireless subscriptions also increased at the rate of 1.36 per cent during the year. Wireless tele-density increased from 82.54 per cent at the end of September 2023 to 82.95 per cent at the end of December 2023 with quarterly rate of growth 0.50 per cent.