The active subscriber base for the pay DTH service in India stood at around 67.04 million in the quarter-ended June 30, 2022, according to data put out by telecom and broadcast regulator TRAI.

This cumulative number is in addition to the subscribers of the Dorrdarshan FreeDish, which is a free service and there are no official numbers for its subscriber base.

Since the introduction of DTH in 2003, TRAI said the sector has displayed phenomenal growth and, as of June end, there were four pay DTH service providers in the country.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s ‘Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report’, for the quarter-ending June 30, 2022, a total of approximately 892 private satellite TV channels have been permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for uplinking and downlinking in the country, which also includes channels that are only uplinked or downlinked.

The TRAI data is based on mandated broadcasters’ feedback. Out of the 879 permitted satellite TV channels available for downlinking in India, there are 347 satellite pay TV channels. Out of 347 pay channels, 249 are SD and 98 are HD TV channels.

The TRAI report provides a broad perspective of the telecom, cable TV, DTH and radio broadcasting services in India.

Apart from the radio channels operated by pubcaster All India Radio, there are 388 operational private FM radio channels in 113 cities operated by 36 private FM radio operators.

The advertisement revenue reported by FM radio operators during the period under review stood at Rs 345.12 crore as against Rs 362.63 crore in respect of 386 private FM radio channels for the previous quarter ending March 31, 2022.

There were 366 operational community radio stations, as per TRAI data.

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,166.93 million at the end of Mar-22 to 1,172.96 million at the end of June-22, registering a growth rate of 0.52 percent over the previous quarter. This reflects a year-on-year (YOY) decline rate of 2.46 percent over the same quarter of the last year. The overall tele-density in India increased from 84.88 percent as in QE Mar-22 to 85.13 percent as in QE June-22.

Total number of Internet subscribers increased from 824.89 million at the end of Mar-22 to 836.86 million at the end of June-22, registering a quarterly growth rate of 1.45 percent. Out of 836.86 million Internet subscribers, the number of wired internet subscribers were 28.73 million and the number of wireless Internet subscribers stood at 808.13 million.

The Internet subscriber base comprises broadband Internet subscriber base of 800.94 million and narrowband Internet subscriber base of 35.92 million.

The broadband Internet subscriber base increased by 1.60 percent from 788.30 million at the end of Mar-22 to 800.94 million at the end of June-22. The narrowband Internet subscriber base declined by 1.84 percent from 36.59 million at the end of Mar-22 to 35.92 million at the end of June-22.

Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) for wireless service increased by 5.02 percent from Rs.127.17 in QE Mar-22 to Rs.133.55 in QE June-22. On a YOY basis, monthly ARPU for wireless service increased by 27.61 percent in this quarter.

Prepaid ARPU per month increased from Rs.121.91 in QE Mar-22 to Rs.128.61 in QE June-22. However, postpaid ARPU per month decreased from Rs.200.56 in QE Mar-22 to Rs.197.55 in QE June-22.

Pass-through charges decreased from Rs.13,568 crore in QE Mar-22 to Rs.13,415 crore in QE Jun-22 with quarterly decline rate of 1.12 percent. The YOY decline rate of 0.38 percent has been recorded in pass-through charges for QE Jun-22.

The license fee increased from Rs. Rs.4,712 crore for the QE Mar-22 to Rs.4,844 crore for the QE Jun-22. The quarterly and the YOY growth rates of license fee are 2.79 percent and 18.05 percent, respectively in this quarter.