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In the past six years, India’s wireless teledensity has grown by 24 per cent, which is even greater than many developed economies such as the US (16 per cent), Canada (15 per cent), France (9 per cent), Germany (5 per cent) and Australia (4 per cent).
The wireless subscriptions have grown by 32.47 per cent in the last six years, higher than many developed economies like Canada (20 per cent), the US (19 per cent), France (10 per cent), Australia (11 per cent), Germany (8 per cent) and UK (1 per cent), a latest report by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said.
In its report titled ‘Achievements in Digital Communications 2014-2020’, the regulator said gross revenue of the telecom services sector increased from ₹2,33,815 crore during fiscal year 2013-14 to ₹2,52,825 crore during FY 2019–20, a growth of more than 8 per cent.
Also, the contribution of telecom sector to GDP increased from 6.1 per cent in 2014 to 6.5 per cent in 2019, it said adding that the telecom sector enabled 30 per cent of the GDP during Covid-19 pandemic and the telecom spectrum auctions, based on the recommendations of TRAI, have netted more than ₹3,25,000 crore to the government.
Data usage
In terms of data usage, per subscriber data usage increased from 3GB in 2014 to 141GB in 2020, a seismic growth of 46 times since 2014, the report mentioned. The data tariffs have fallen steeply from ₹269 per GB in 2014 to around ₹11 per GB in 2020, a decrease by 25 times.
“Our tariffs are one of the lowest in the world, enabled by mega telecom operators and intense competition among them. The low tariff rates helped in increasing the Internet teledensity in the country, aiding businesses and connecting the vast population, paving the way for growth and development of the economy,” it said.
The total base of Internet subscribers increased from a total of 238.71 million to 776.45 million, a rise of 225 per cent during the last six years. While the rural Internet subscribers increased from 92.18 million to 302.35 million, the urban Internet subscribers increased from 175.21 million to 474.11 million, the report added.
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