“Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter January - March, 2026

TRAI has today released the “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter ending 31st March, 2026. This Report provides a broad perspective of the Telecom Services in India and presents the key parameters and growth trends of the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadcasting services in India for the period covering 1st January, 2026 to 31st March, 2026 compiled mainly on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.

Executive Summary of the Report is enclosed. The complete Report is available on TRAI’s website (www.trai.gov.in and under the link http://www.trai.gov.in/release-publication/reports/performance-indicators-reports). Any suggestion or any clarification pertaining to this report, Shri Vijay Kumar, Advisor (F&EA), TRAI may be contacted on Tel. +91-20907773 and e-mail:     fea1-div@trai.gov.in.

The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators

January–March, 2026

Executive Summary

1. Total number of Internet subscribers increased from 1028.61 million at the end of Dec-25 to 1092.79 million at the end of Mar-26, registering a quarterly rate of growth 6.24%. Out of 1,092.79 million internet subscribers, number of Wired Internet subscribers are 46.54 million and number of Wireless Internet subscribers are 1046.26 million.

Composition of internet subscription

1. The Internet subscriber base is comprised of Broadband Internet subscriber base of 1065.88 million and Narrowband Internet subscriber base of 26.91 million.
2. The broadband Internet subscriber base increased by 5.81% from 1007.35 million at the end of Dec-25 to 1065.88 million at the end of Mar-26. The narrowband Internet subscriber base also increased by 26.62% from 21.25 million at the end of Dec-25 to 26.91 million at the end of Mar-26.
3. Wireline subscribers inreased from 47.37 million at the end of Dec-25 to 48.25 million at the end of Mar-26 with a quarterly rate of growth 1.86%. On Y-O-Y basis, wireline subscriptions increased by 30.25% at the end of QE Mar-26.
4. Wireline Tele-density increased from 3.33% at the end of Dec-25 to 3.38% at the end of Mar-26 with quarterly rate of growth 1.64%.
5. Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 0.76%, from Rs.194.57 in QE Dec-25 to Rs.196.04 in QE Mar-26. On Y-O-Y basis, monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 7.15% in this quarter.
6. The ARPU per month for the pre-paid segment is Rs.196.22 and the ARPU per month for the post-paid segment is Rs.194.31 for Q.E. Mar-26.                              
7. On an all-India average, the overall MOU per month increased by 0.43% from 1012 in Q.E. Dec-25 to 1017 in Q.E. Mar-26. 
8. Prepaid MOU per subscriber is 1074 and Postpaid MOU per subscriber per month is 477 in QE Mar-26.
9. Gross Revenue (GR),  Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Service Sector for the Q.E. Mar-26 has been Rs.1,05,118 Crore, Rs.98,638 crore and Rs.86,716 Crore respectively.  GR increased by 2.58%, ApGR by 2.26% and AGR increased by 2.90% in Q.E. Mar-25, as compared to previous quarter. 
10. The Y-O-Y rate of growth in GR, ApGR and AGR in Q.E. Mar-26 over the same quarter in last year have been 6.99%, 6.50% and 9.45% respectively.
11. Pass Through Charges increased from Rs.11,296 Crore in QE Dec-25 to Rs.12,494 Crore in QE Mar-26 with quarterly rate of growth of 10.60%. The Y-O-Y rate of decline 3.76% has been recorded in pass-through charges for QE Mar-26.
12. The License Fee increased from Rs.6,733 Crore for the QE Dec-25 to Rs.6,936 Crore for the QE Mar-26. The quarterly and the Y-O-Y rates of growth in license fees are 3.02% and 9.41% respectively in this quarter.       

Service-wise composition of Adjusted Gross Revenue

1. Access services contributed 83.59% of the total Adjusted Gross Revenue of telecom services. In Access services, Gross Revenue (GR), Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR), Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR), License Fee, Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) and Pass Through Charges increased by 2.85%, 1.68%, 1.75%, 1.74%, -0.44% and 15.38% respectively in QE Mar-26.
2. The number of total telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,306.14 million at the end of Dec-25 to 1,330.58 million at the end of Mar-26, registering a rate of growth 1.87% over the previous quarter. This reflects Year-On-Year (Y-O-Y) rate of growth 10.81% over the same quarter of the last year. The overall Tele-density in India increased from 91.74% in QE Dec-25 to 93.26% in QE Mar-26.

Trends in Telephone subscribers and Tele-density in India

1. Telephone subscribers in Urban areas increased from 762.44 million at the end of Dec-25 to 778.79 million at the end of Mar-26 and Urban Tele-density also increased from 148.92% to 151.47% during the same period.
2. Rural telephone 543.70 million at the end of Dec-25 to 551.79 million at the end of Mar-26 and Rural Tele-density also increased from 59.63% to 60.46% during the same period.
3. Out of the total subscription, the share of Rural subscription decreased from 41.63% at the end of Dec-25 to 41.47% at the end of Mar-26.

Composition of Telephone Subscribers

1. With a net addition of 23.56 million subscribers during the quarter, the total wireless (mobile + FWA) subscriber base increased from 1258.77 million at the end of Dec-25 to 1282.33 million at the end of Mar-26, registering a rate of growth 1.87% over the previous quarter. On Y-O-Y basis, wireless subscriptions increased at the rate of 10.19% during the year.  
2. Wireless (mobile + FWA) Tele-density increased from 88.41% at the end of Dec-25 to 89.88% at the end of Mar-26 with quarterly rate of growth 1.66%.
3. With a net addition of 21.53 million subscribers during the quarter, the wireless (mobile) subscriber base increased from 1244.20 million at the end of Dec-25 to 1265.73 million at the end of Mar-26, registering a rate of growth 1.73% over the previous quarter. On Y-O-Y basis, wireless subscriptions also increased at the rate of 9.40% during the year.  
4. Wireless (mobile) Tele-density increased from 87.38% at the end of Dec-25 to 88.71% at the end of Mar-26 with quarterly rate of growth of 1.52%.
5. During this quarter, the following parameters in terms of QoS benchmarks have been fully complied with by all wireline service providers in all the LSAs: -

1. During this quarter, list of QoS parameters which are fully complied with by all the Access Service (Wireless) providers in all the LSAs: -

1. List of QoS parameters which are fully complied with by all the Broadband (Wireline) Service providers in all the service areas: -

1. A total of 917 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for uplinking only/downlinking only/both uplinking & downlinking.  
2. As per the reporting done by broadcasters in pursuance of the Tariff Order dated 3rd March 2017, as amended, out of 908 permitted satellite TV channels which are available for downlinking in India, there are 342 satellite pay TV channels as on 31st March, 2026. Out of 342 pay channels, 238 are SD satellite pay TV channels and 104 are HD satellite pay TV channels.  Apart from these pay channels reported to TRAI, remaining 566 channels, permitted by MIB, are considered as Free-to-Air (FTA) channels.
3. During QE March 2026, there were 4 pay DTH service providers in the country. As per the data reported by these DTH operators, pay DTH has attained a total active subscriber base of around 49.05 million as on 31st March 2026. This is in addition to the subscribers of the DD Free Dish (free DTH services of Prasar Bharati). The total active subscriber base of pay DTH services has declined from 50.99 million in the quarter ending December 2025 to 49.05 million in the quarter ending March 2026.
4. Apart from the radio channels operated by All India Radio, the public broadcaster, as per the data reported by FM Radio operators to TRAI, as on 31st December 2025, there were 385 operational private FM radio channels across 113 cities, operated by 31 private FM radio operators. During the quarter ended 31st March 2026, M/s JCL Infra Ltd. surrendered permission for its two FM radio stations in Leh and Kargil, in the Union Territory of Ladakh. Now, 03 channels are operational in the Union Territory of Ladakh. Further, M/s D B Corp Limited has started operation of 07 new channels in 07 new cities i.e (i) Alwar, (ii) Bhuj, (iii) Daman, (iv) Gandhi Dham, (v) Ganganagar, (vi) Pali and (vii) Ratlam. Therefore, as on 31st March 2026, there are 390 operational private FM radio channels across 120 cities, operated by 31 private FM radio operators. 
5. The advertisement revenue reported by FM Radio operators during the quarter ending 31st March 2026 in respect of 390 private FM Radio channels is Rs 414.03 crore as against Rs 419.29 crore in respect of 385 private FM Radio channels for the previous quarter i.e. 31st December 2025. 
6. As on 31st March, 2026, 564 Community Radio stations are operational.

SNAPSHOT