User spending on mobile services up 1.1% in Q4FY25 to Rs 65,800 crore: TRAI

Consumer spending on mobile services increased marginally in the fourth quarter of 2024-25 from the previous three-month period, aided by the residual effects of the headline tariff hikes in July 2024 which reflected in higher net revenue for telecom operators from postpaid and prepaid services, showed an assessment of latest data collated by the telecom regulator.

User spending on mobile services (post-goods and services tax) increased 1.1% quarter-on-quarter to about Rs 65,800 crore in January-March, as per the latest sector performance data issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Net revenue in the telecom sector increased 18.1% year-on-year to around Rs 633,000 crore, driven by a 6.2% rise in intercompany settlements.


Intercompany settlements include payments towards roaming charges and international interconnect usage charges that are settled among operators and partner global carriers. An intercompany settlement is the difference between gross revenue and adjusted gross revenue from mobile services.

“In Q4FY25, consumer spend on mobile services (post-GST) rose 1.1% QoQ/ 17.6% YoY to INR 658bn aided by tariff hike. Net revenue grew 0.8% QoQ/18.1% YoY to INR 633bn. Post-paid net revenue was up 1% QoQ/9.4% YoY, as benefits show with a lag. Prepaid net revenue rose 0.7% QoQ/19% YoY, as ARPU (average revenue per user) increased 0.9% QoQ/21.1% YoY to INR 183,” ICICI Securities said in a report.

Overall consumer spending on data services went up 1.2% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 56,719.5 crore, driven by increasing 5G data consumption. Consumers spent 86.% of their telecom spendings on data services and 13.8% on voice and other services, according to the Trai data.

Overall data usage increased 4.3% quarter-on-quarter, led by 5G data growth, which surged 18.1%, accounting for 30% of total data usage. On the other hand, 4G data usage declined 0.5% sequentially and 2G and 3G data volumes fell 14% and 28.1%, respectively, indicating the sharp increase in Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel’s customer upgrades to 5G services.

Reliance Jio continued to have the highest share of data usage, cornering 48.7% of the market (up 141 basis points sequentially), while Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s share stood at 35.5% (up 5 basis points) and 10.4% (up 9 basis points), respectively.

A basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.