The telecom sector’s gross revenue (GR) increased to ₹3,36,066 crore in the financial year 2023-24, a yearly growth of 0.71 per cent as compared with ₹3,33,697 crore in the previous fiscal, and applicable gross revenue (ApGR) increased from ₹3,03,767 crore to ₹3,23,142 crore with yearly growth rate of 6.38 per cent during same period, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said on Wednesday.

The sector regulator, in its yearly report titled -- ‘The Indian Telecom Services Yearly Performance Indicators 2023-2024’ -- also said that the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) increased to ₹2,70,504 crore in 2023-24, a growth of 8.24 per cent from ₹2,49,908 crore in 2022-23.

Rise in subscribers

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 1,199.28 million at the end of March this year compared with 1,172.34 million in March 2023, registering a yearly growth of 2.30 per cent. The overall tele-density in India increased to 85.69 per cent at the end of March, a growth of 1.39 per cent from 84.51 per cent in March last year, it said.

Pass through charges (charges by third party service provider) decreased by 4.26 per cent to ₹53,579 crore in 2023-24 ( ₹55,965 crore), it said adding that spectrum usage charges (SUC) also decreased by 32.20 per cent to ₹3,369 crore in 2023-24 (₹4,968 crore). However, license fee increased by 8.45 per cent y-o-y to ₹21,642 crore during the year (₹19,954 crore) .

TRAI report also mentioned that average revenue per user (ARPU) per month for mobile service increased to ₹149.25 (₹138.75) in 2023-24, thereby showing a growth of 7.57 per cent.

ARPU per month for prepaid service increased to ₹146.37 in 2023-24 (₹135.47). ARPU for postpaid service also increased to ₹184.63 (₹176.73) .

Currently, the ARPU level is around ₹210 as of first quarter this year (approx ₹200).

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