Internet users grow 9.3% in July-Sept 2018, total telephone base up 1.93%

Monthly ARPU for wireless service was down 2.55%, from Rs 69.15 in April-June 2018 to Rs 67.39 in July-September 2018, and was down by a fifth on yearly basis

Internet users in the country grew 9.3 per cent to 560 million in the July-September quarter of the current financial year (2018-19) from 512.26 million at the end of the June 2018, a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Tuesday.

Out of 560.01 million internet subscribers, wired internet subscribers stood at 21.25 million and wireless subscribers at 537.92 million. The internet subscriber base consisted of a broadband internet subscriber base of 481.70 million and narrowband internet subscriber base of 78.30 million.

The monthly average revenue per User (ARPU) for wireless service declined by 2.55 per cent, from Rs 69.15 in April-June 2018 to Rs 67.39 in July-September 2018.

The monthly ARPU for wireless services declined by a fifth on yearly basis in the July-September quarter.

The total number of telephone subscribers in India rose from 1,168.89 million at the end of June 2018 to 1,191.40 million at the end of September 2018, up 1.93 per cent over the previous quarter. The overall teledensity rose from 89.72 in April-June quarter to 91.20 in July-September 2018.

However, the license fee declined from Rs 2,929 crore during the April-June period to Rs 2,889 crore in the July-September period.

With a net addition of 22.80 million subscribers during the quarter, the total wireless subscriber base increased from 1,146.49 million at the end of June to 1,169.29 million at the end of September, up 1.99 per cent over the previous quarter. However, year-on-year (Y-O-Y) wireless subscriptions declined at the rate of 1.66 per cent during the quarter.

Gross Revenue and Adjusted Gross Revenue of the telecom service sector in June-September 2018 was Rs 57,827 crore and Rs 36,142 crore respectively. Both declined by 0.98 per cent and 1.12 per cent respectively in quarter ended September as compared to April-June period.