India's Internet Subscriber Base Tops 111 Crore, But Rural India Has Just 49 Connections per 100 People: TRAI
- Internet subscriber base rose to 1,114 million by June 2026
- Broadband subscriptions grew 2.03% in the quarter to 1,087 million
- Monthly ARPU for prepaid stood well above postpaid
The number of internet users in India has crossed 111 crore, but the gap between villages and cities remains wide. According to TRAI's latest report, internet subscribers stood at 1,114.17 million at the end of June 2026, while rural internet penetration was only 49.07 subscribers per 100 people. The report was released on October 12.
At a Glance
- Internet subscribers: 1,114.17 million (March 2026: 1,092.79 million)
- Broadband: 1,087.50 million; narrowband: 26.67 million
- Wireless internet: 1,066.43 million; wired: 47.73 million
- Urban penetration: 129.03 per 100; rural: 49.07 per 100
- Prepaid ARPU: ₹200.72; postpaid ARPU: ₹114.26
- Monthly data consumption per user: 28.39 GB
Internet Base Grows 1.96%
The internet subscriber base grew 1.96% from 1,092.79 million in March to 1,114.17 million. Mobile and wireless account for over 96% of it. Wired internet remains limited to 47.73 million.
Broadband grew a little faster. It rose from 1,065.88 million in March to 1,087.50 million, a quarterly increase of 2.03%. In June alone, broadband went from 1,080.15 million to 1,087.50 million, a monthly growth of 0.68%.
Digital Divide: Cities at 129, Villages at 49
Urban areas have 129.03 internet connections per 100 people, against 49.07 in rural areas. Urban penetration is more than two and a half times the rural level. Rural penetration was 48.31 in March, so there was a marginal improvement during the quarter. Even so, the rural share of total internet subscriptions slipped from 41.47% to 41.24%. This suggests that cities continue to account for most new subscribers.
ARPU: Prepaid Well Ahead
Wireless ARPU rose 1.19% in the quarter to ₹187.12 and was 3.11% higher year on year. Average monthly revenue from prepaid users was ₹200.72, against ₹114.26 from postpaid users.
Prepaid overtaking postpaid is not new. In the March 2026 quarter too, prepaid stood at ₹196.22 and postpaid at ₹194.31. What has changed is that the gap is now much wider. One reason cited for the drop in postpaid ARPU is the growth of low-revenue machine-to-machine (M2M) connections. M2M connections rose from 131.11 million to 134.73 million in June.
More Data, Less Revenue per GB
Mobile data users stood at 1,045.55 million, and total data consumption rose 8.30% to 84,424 petabytes. Monthly usage per user went up from 26.70 GB to 28.39 GB, while average revenue realisation per GB fell 5.07% to ₹7.13.
In other words, users are consuming more data while operators earn less on every GB. Growth for telecom companies is now coming from volume, not price.
Calling Declines as Internet Rises
Monthly voice usage per user fell from 959 minutes to 933 minutes, a decline of 2.65%. The impact of calling on WhatsApp and other apps is clearly visible. India's total telephone subscriber base is 1.348 billion, with a tele-density of 94.31%.
Sector Revenue
In the April-June 2026 quarter, the telecom sector's gross revenue was ₹1,06,797 crore, up 10.50% year on year. Meanwhile, AGR came in at ₹88,796 crore.
Jio and Airtel Maintain Their Grip
In broadband, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel hold the top two spots with 53.22 crore and 37.99 crore subscribers respectively. In June, Airtel added 29 lakh and Jio added 21 lakh new mobile subscribers. 5G FWA connections also rose from 12.73 million to 12.94 million.
The numbers clearly show that India has become a data-first market. The real challenge lies in villages, where penetration is still below half. The question before telecom companies is how to fund rural expansion when revenue per GB keeps falling.
