New Delhi: India’s telecom sector continued its steady expansion in the September quarter of FY26, with overall telephone subscribers rising to 1.23 billion, up 0.87% from the previous quarter, according to the TRAI’s Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report released on Wednesday.
The data shows internet subscribers crossing 1.01 billion, driven by growth in wireless broadband, while wired broadband remained a small but rising segment. The broadband subscriber base touched 995.63 million, clocking 1.63% quarterly growth, even as narrowband users declined.
Wireless (mobile + fixed wireless access) subscriptions grew to 1.18 billion, adding over 11 million users, while wireline connections continued to slide, dropping 1.84% to 46.61 million during the quarter.
The industry’s financial metrics remained robust with Gross Revenue (GR) rising 3.29% sequentially to ₹99,828 crore and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) improving 1.26% to ₹82,348 crore. ARPU for wireless services rose 2.34% to ₹190.99, reflecting tariff improvements and higher data consumption. Monthly usage per subscriber, however, remained broadly stable at around 1,005 minutes. Urban tele-density increased to 134.76%, while rural tele-density inched up marginally to 59.52%, although rural users’ share in total subscriptions fell slightly to 43.93%.
The quarter also saw continued improvement in service quality benchmarks across wireline, wireless and broadband services, with telecom operators meeting key standards related to call setup success rates, latency, network downtime and customer grievance resolution.
In broadcasting, India now has 916 permitted satellite TV channels, 334 of which are pay channels, while the active pay DTH subscriber base declined to 52.78 million.
Private FM radio channels stood at 387, and community radio stations increased to 548, reflecting gradual expansion in rural and local broadcasting services.