According to a new report by TRAI, India’s wireless teledensity grew by 24 per cent in the past six years. This is greater than the growth observed in 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).
Further, the wireless subscriptions grew by 32.47 per cent during the period under consideration. This too is higher than the growth observed in 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).
The report also noted that gross revenue of the telecom services sector increased from Rs 2.33 trillion during FY 2013-14 to Rs 2.52 trillion during FY 2019–20, recording a growth of over 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.
As per the report, the telecom sector enabled 30 per cent of the GDP during Covid-19 pandemic and the telecom spectrum auctions have brought in more than Rs 3.25 trillion to the government.
