The Indian telecom industry saw a rise in the average revenue per user (ARPU) for wireless services in FY24. As per the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the industry’s ARPU grew by 7.57% in FY24. While this may seem like a decent growth, the reality is that barring Airtel, no other telecom company saw any notable growth in their wireless services ARPU.
TRAI said, “The average revenue per user (ARPU) per month for wireless service increased from Rs.138.75 in 2022-23 to Rs.149.25 in 2023-24,
with an annual growth of 7.57%.”
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For prepaid services, ARPU increased from Rs 135.47 to Rs 146.37 YoY. For postpaid services, it increased from Rs 176.73 to Rs 184.63. In FY25, this growth is expected to get a boost on account of the mobile subscription tariff hikes that were implemented at the beginning of Q2 FY25. Every private telecom operator increased the price of their subscriptions.
The number of wireless data subscribers also increased. As of the end of March 2024, there were 913.34 million wireless data subscribers, compared to 846.21 million users a year ago. This also resulted in a boost in data service revenue.
“Total revenue from wireless data usage increased from Rs. 1,74,144 crore in the year 2022-23 to Rs. 1,86,226 crore in the year 2023-24 at a yearly rate
“growth rate of 6.94%,” said TRAI-.
Growth was seen in the national telephone connections with several million users during the year. “National telephone subscriptions increased from 518.63 million at end-Mar-23 to 533.90 million at end-Mar-24 with an annual growth rate of 2.94%. National tele-density also increased from 57.71% at end-Mar-23 to 59.19% at end-Mar-24 with an annual growth rate of 2.56%.”
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Private telecom operators are investing more in bringing digital connectivity to rural India as soon as possible. Gross revenues saw a marginal growth YoY, which was a bit disappointing. AGR (adjusted gross revenues) on the other hand saw a growth of 8.24% YoY from Rs 2,49,908 crore to Rs 2,70,504 crore.
Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) declined as the government did not charge SUC on the new spectrum. The license fee rose 8.54% to Rs 21,642 crore from Rs 19,954 crore in the previous year.
