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“Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter October - December, 2025

TRAI today has released the “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the Quarter ending 31^st December, 2025. 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 1^st October, 2025 to 31^st December, 2025 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

October–December, 2025

 

Executive Summary

 

1. Total number of Internet subscribers increased from 1017.81 million at the end of Sep-25 to 1028.61 million at the end of Dec-25, registering a quarterly rate of growth 1.06%. Out of 1,028.61 million internet subscribers, number of Wired Internet subscribers are 45.32 million and number of Wireless Internet subscribers are 983.29 million.

 

Composition of internet subscription

 

2. The Internet subscriber base is comprised of Broadband Internet subscriber base of 1007.35 million and Narrowband Internet subscriber base of 21.25 million.
3. The broadband Internet subscriber base increased by 1.18% from 995.63 million at the end of Sep-25 to 1007.35 million at the end of Dec-25. The narrowband Internet subscriber base decreased by 4.18% from 22.18 million at the end of Sep-25 to 21.25 million at the end of Dec-25.
4. Wireline subscribers inreased from 46.61 million at the end of Sep-25 to 47.37 million at the end of Dec-25 with a quarterly rate of growth 1.62%. On Y-O-Y basis, wireline subscriptions increased by 20.63% at the end of QE Dec-25.

 

5. Wireline Tele-density increased from 3.29% at the end of Sep-25 to 3.33% at the end of Dec-25 with quarterly rate of growth 1.23%.
6. Monthly Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 1.87%, from Rs.190.99 in QE Sep-25 to Rs.194.57 in QE Dec-25. On Y-O-Y basis, monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 7.03% in this quarter.
7. The ARPU per month for the pre-paid segment is Rs.194.12 and the ARPU per month for the post-paid segment is Rs.199.05 for Q.E. Dec-25.                         
8. On an all-India average, the overall MOU per month increased by 0.72% from 1005 in Q.E. Sep-25 to 1012 in Q.E. Dec-25. 
9. Prepaid MOU per subscriber is 1064 and Postpaid MOU per subscriber per month is 501 in QE Dec-25.
10. Gross Revenue (GR),  Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Service Sector for the Q.E. Dec-25 has been Rs.1,02,475 Crore, Rs.96,456 crore and Rs.84,270 Crore respectively.  GR increased by 2.65%, ApGR by 2.28% and AGR increased by 2.33% in Q.E. Dec-25, as compared to previous quarter. 
11. The Y-O-Y rate of growth in GR, ApGR and AGR in Q.E. Dec-25 over the same quarter in last year have been 6.31%, 4.46% and 8.13% respectively.
12. Pass Through Charges decreased from Rs.11,426 Crore in QE Sep-25 to Rs.11,296 Crore in QE Dec-25 with quarterly rate of decline of 1.13%. The Y-O-Y rate of decline 21.61% has been recorded in pass-through charges for QE Dec-25.
13. The License Fee increased from Rs.6,588 Crore for the QE Sep-25 to Rs.6,733 Crore for the QE Dec-25. The quarterly and the   Y-O-Y rates of growth in license fees are 2.20% and 8% respectively in this quarter.       

 

Service-wise composition of Adjusted Gross Revenue

 

14. Access services contributed 84.54% 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 1.37%, 1.89%, 2.91%, 2.91%, 2.46% and -6.37% respectively in QE Dec-25.

 

15. The number of total telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,228.94 million at the end of Sep-25 to 1,306.14 million at the end of Dec-25, registering a rate of growth 6.28% over the previous quarter. This reflects Year-On-Year (Y-O-Y) rate of growth 9.77% over the same quarter of the last year. The overall Tele-density in India increased from 86.65% in QE Sep-25 to 91.74% in QE Dec-25.

Trends in Telephone subscribers and Tele-density in India

 

16. Telephone subscribers in Urban areas increased from 689.11 million at the end of Sep-25 to 762.44 million at the end of Dec-25 and Urban Tele-density also increased from 134.76% to 148.92% during the same period.
17. Rural telephone 539.83 million at the end of Sep-25 to 543.70 million at the end of Dec-25 and Rural Tele-density also increased from 59.52% to 59.63% during the same period.
18. Out of the total subscription, the share of Rural subscription decreased from 43.93% at the end of Sep-25 to 41.63% at the end of Dec-25.

 

Composition of Telephone Subscribers

 

   

 

19. With a net addition of 76.45 million subscribers during the quarter, the total wireless (mobile + FWA) subscriber base increased from 1182.32 million at the end of Sep-25 to 1258.77 million at the end of Dec-25, registering a rate of growth 6.47% over the previous quarter. On Y-O-Y basis, wireless subscriptions increased at the rate of 9.40% during the year.  
20. Wireless (mobile + FWA) Tele-density increased from 83.36% at the end of Sep-25 to 88.41% at the end of Dec-25 with quarterly rate of growth 6.05%.
21. With a net addition of 73.76 million subscribers during the quarter, the wireless (mobile) subscriber base increased from 1170.44 million at the end of Sep-25 to 1244.20 million at the end of Dec-25, registering a rate of growth 6.30% over the previous quarter. On Y-O-Y basis, wireless subscriptions also increased at the rate of 8.13% during the year.  
22. Wireless (mobile) Tele-density increased from 82.53% at the end of Sep-25 to 87.38% at the end of Dec-25 with quarterly rate of growth of 5.89%.
23. During this quarter, the following parameters in terms of QoS benchmarks have been fully complied with by wireline service providers in all the LSAs: -

S. No.	Parameter	Benchmark
1	Provision of a service within 7 working days of payment of demand note by the customer	≥ 98%
2	Fault incidences (No. of faults per 100 subscribers)	≤ 5
3	Point of Interconnection (POI) Congestion (90th percentile value)	≤ 0.5%
4	Billing and charging complaints	≤ 0.1%
5	Resolution of billing/ charging complaints within four weeks	100%
6	Application of adjustment to customer’s account within one week from the date of resolution of billing and charging complaints or rectification of faults or rectification of significant network outage, as applicable	100%
7	Accessibility of call centre/customer care	≥ 95%
8	Percentage of calls answered by the operators (voice to voice) within 90 seconds	≥ 95%
9	Termination/ closure of service within seven working days of receipt of customer’s request	100%

 

 

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

S. No.	Parameter	Benchmark
1	Availability of service wise geospatial coverage map on service provider’s website for percentage of working cells	≥ 99%
2	Cumulative downtime (Cells not available for service)	≤ 1.5 %
3	Worst Affected Cells due to downtime	≤ 1.5 %
4	Percentage of significant network outage (services not available in a district for more than 4 hours) reported to the Authority within 24 hrs of start of the outage	100%
5	Call Set-up Success Rate: Intra- Service provider (within service provider’s network)	≥ 98%
6	Call Set-up Success Rate: Inter- Service provider (incoming from other service providers' network)	≥ 95%
7	Point of Interconnection (POI) Congestion (90th percentile value)	≤ 0.5%
8	DCR Spatial Distribution Measure for Circuit Switched (2G/3G) network [CS_QSD (88, 88)]	≤ 2%
9	DCR Spatial Distribution Measure for Packet Switched (4G/5G and beyond) network [PS_QSD (93, 93)]	≤ 2%
10	Downlink Packet Drop Rate for Packet Switched Network (4G/5G and beyond) [DLPDR_QSD (88, 88)]	≤ 2%
11	Uplink Packet Drop Rate for Packet Switched Network (4G/5G and beyond) [ULPDR_QSD (88, 88)]	≤ 2%
12	Latency (in 4G and 5G network)	≤ 75 msec
13	Packet Drop Rate (in 4G and 5G network)	≤ 3%
14	Percentile value of measured test samples for which download and upload speed is ≥ offered typical download and upload speed in tariff offerings	80th percentile
15	Billing and charging complaints	≤ 0.1%
16	Resolution of billing/ charging complaints within four weeks	100%
17	Application of adjustment to customer’s account within one week from the date of resolution of billing and charging complaints or rectification of faults or rectification of significant network outage, as applicable	100%
18	Termination/ closure of service within seven working days of receipt of customer’s request	100%
19	Refund of deposits within 45 days of closure of service or non-provisioning of service	100%

 

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

S. No.	Parameter	Benchmark
1.	Latency	≤ 50 msec
2.	Packet Drop Rate	≤ 1%
3.	Percentile value of measured test samples for which download and upload speed is ≥ offered typical download and upload speed in tariff offerings	90th percentile
4.	Maximum Bandwidth utilization of any Customer serving node to ISP Gateway Node [Intra-network] or Internet Exchange Point Link(s)	≤ 80%
5.	Jitter	≤ 40ms
6.	Resolution of billing/ charging complaints within four weeks	100%
7.	Accessibility of call centre/ customer care	≥ 95%

 

26. A total of 920 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for uplinking only/downlinking only/both uplinking & downlinking.  
27. As per the reporting done by broadcasters in pursuance of the Tariff Order dated 3^rd March 2017, as amended, out of 911 permitted satellite TV channels which are available for downlinking in India, there are 335 satellite pay TV channels as on 31^st December, 2025. Out of 335 pay channels, 232 are SD satellite pay TV channels and 103 are HD satellite pay TV channels.  Apart from these pay channels reported to TRAI, remaining 576 channels, permitted by MIB, are considered as Free-to-Air (FTA) channels.

 

28. During QE December 2025, 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 50.99 million as on 31^st December 2025. 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 52.78 million in the quarter ending September 2025 to 50.99 million in the quarter ending December 2025.
29. 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 30^th September 2025, there were 387 operational private FM Radio channels in 113 cities operated by 31 private FM Radio operators. During the quarter ended 31^st December 2025, M/s South Asia FM surrendered the permission for its FM radio station in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Further, M/s Next Radio Limited surrendered the permission for its FM radio station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Now, 08 channels are operational in the city of Mumbai & 06 channels are operational in the city of Chennai. Therefore, as on 31^st December 2025, there are 385 operational private FM radio channels across 113 cities, operated by 31 private FM radio operators. 
30. The advertisement revenue reported by FM Radio operators during the quarter ending 31^st December 2025 in respect of 385 private FM Radio channels is Rs 419.29 crore as against Rs 399.96 crore in respect of 387 private FM Radio channels for the previous quarter i.e. 30^th September 2025. 
31. As on 31^st December, 2025, 557 Community Radio stations are operational

 

SNAPSHOT

 

(Data as on Q.E. 31st December 2025)
Telecom Subscribers (Wireless+Wireline)
Total Subscribers	1,306.14 million
% change over the previous quarter	6.28%*
Urban Subscribers	762.44 million
Rural Subscribers	543.70 million
Market share of Private Operators	92.17%
Market share of PSU Operators	7.83%
Tele-density	91.74%
Urban Tele-density	148.92%
Rural Tele-density	59.63%
Wireless (Mobile+FWA) Subscribers
Wireless (Mobile) Subscribers	1,244.20 million
Wireless (5G FWA+UBR FWA) Subscribers	14.57 million
Total Wireless Subscribers	1,258.77 million
% change over the previous quarter	6.47%*
Urban Subscribers	720.15 million
Rural Subscribers	538.62 million
Market share of Private Operators	92.61%
Market share of PSU Operators	7.39%
Tele-density	88.41%
Urban Tele-density	140.66%
Rural Tele-density	59.07%
Total Wireless Data Usage during the quarter	73,324 PB
Number of Public Mobile Radio Trunk Services (PMRTS)	65,515
Number of Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT)	2,09,683
Wireline Subscribers
Total Wireline Subscribers	47.37 million
% change over the previous quarter	1.62%
Urban Subscribers	42.29 million
Rural Subscribers	5.08 million
Market share of PSU Operators	19.70%
Market share of Private Operators	80.30%
Tele-density	3.33%
Rural Tele-density	0.56%
Urban Tele-density	8.26%
No. of Public Call Office (PCO)	4,937
Telecom Financial Data
Gross Revenue (GR) during the quarter	Rs. 1,02,475 crore
% change in GR over the previous quarter	2.65%
Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) during quarter	Rs. 96,456 crore
% change in ApGR over the previous quarter	2.28%
Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) during the quarter	Rs. 84,270 crore
% change in AGR over the previous quarter	2.33%
Share of Public sector undertakings in Access AGR	2.87%
Internet/Broadband Subscribers
Total Internet Subscribers	1028.61 million
% change over previous quarter	1.06%
Narrowband subscribers	21.25 million
Broadband subscribers	1007.35 million
Fixed (Wired) Access Internet Subscribers	45.32 million
Wireless (Fixed+Mobile) Access Internet Subscribers	983.29 million
Urban Internet Subscribers	594.33 million
Rural Internet Subscribers	434.27 million
Total Internet Subscribers per 100 population	72.24%
Urban Internet Subscribers per 100 population	116.09%
Rural Internet Subscribers per 100 population	47.63%
Total Outgoing Minutes of Usage for Internet Telephony	68.08 million
No. of Public Wi-Fi Hotspots	55,483
Aggregate Data Consumed (TB) for Wi-Fi Hotspots	11,805 TB
Broadcasting & Cable Services
Number of private satellite TV channels permitted by the Ministry of I&B for uplinking only/downlinking only/both uplinking and downlinking	920
Number of Pay TV Channels as reported by broadcasters	335
Number of private FM Radio Channels (excluding All India Radio)	385
Number of total active subscribers with pay DTH operators	50.99 million
Number of Operational Community Radio Stations	557
Number of pay DTH Operators	4
Revenue & Usage Parameters
**Monthly ARPU of Wireless Service	Rs.194.57
Minutes of Usage (MOU) per subscriber per month - Wireless Service	1012
Wireless Data Usage
Average Wireless Data Usage per wireless data subscriber per month	25.70 GB
Average revenue realization per GB for wireless data usage during the quarter	Rs.7.87
Note: *Till the month of November 2025, M/S Bharti Airtel Limited was not including their M2M cellular subscriber base in their wireless (Mobile) subscriber base while the remaining operators were including their M2M cellular subscriber base in their wireless (Mobile) subscriber base. From this month of December 2025, M/S Bharti Airtel Limited has started including their M2M cellular subscriber base in their wireless (mobile) subscriber base. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the Total and wireless (mobile) subscriber base in the month of December 2025.

 

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MI/ARJ