Summary

  • Indian mobile data volume rose 8.30% quarter on quarter to 84,424 petabytes, while average revenue realization per gigabyte fell 5.07% to ₹7.13.
  • Wireless ARPU increased 1.19% to ₹187.12 a month, a separate measure that does not show what happened to data prices, margins or household bills.

Analysis

Traffic is not yield

TRAI’s quarterly report offers a useful pair of signals. Wireless mobile data traffic reached 84,424 petabytes in April–June 2026, up from 77,953 petabytes in January–March. Average usage per wireless-data subscriber rose from 26.70 GB to 28.39 GB a month. Over the same comparison, the regulator’s average revenue realization per gigabyte moved down from ₹7.51 to ₹7.13.

That is a widening gap between how much data the sector carried and the reported revenue associated with each gigabyte. It is not evidence that operators earned less in total from data. Nor does it reveal whether a particular carrier cut a price. The report aggregates service-provider returns; it does not publish a causal decomposition that connects the traffic increase to the yield decline.

The distinction matters because “more data” is often used as a shorthand for a stronger business. Volume can grow as customers use more apps, stream more video, or shift activity onto mobile networks. Revenue per gigabyte can fall at the same time if plans include more data, the traffic mix changes, or lower-yield users account for more of the total. These are plausible mechanisms, not findings established by this report.

ARPU answers another question

Wireless-service ARPU rose 1.19% quarter on quarter, from ₹184.91 to ₹187.12 per month. It was 3.11% higher than a year earlier. That movement does not cancel the fall in revenue realization per gigabyte. ARPU describes average wireless-service revenue per subscriber; the per-GB figure relates reported revenue to data volume. One can rise while the other falls, especially as usage and service mix change.

The report also records a 2.65% quarterly decline in average monthly wireless minutes of use, from 959 to 933. This may be read alongside rising data use as a change in reported usage mix. It cannot by itself prove that voice is being replaced by data, because the report supplies no user-level panel linking the two behaviours.

The measurement source deserves equal care. The report is dated 12 October but covers the quarter that ended on 30 June. TRAI says the statistics are compiled mainly from data furnished by service providers and disclaims a warranty. They are regulator-published sector indicators, not audited operator margins or a survey of customer experience.

What the figures leave open

A lower average realization per GB is not the same as a lower advertised tariff or a cheaper household bill. Plans bundle voice, data and other benefits; a customer’s effective price depends on the plan, usage and billing period. The figure also says nothing about the cost of carrying a gigabyte. Without cost, capital expenditure and service-quality measures on the same basis, it cannot show whether falling yield is sustainable or harmful.

TRAI’s numbers therefore support a narrow conclusion: traffic expanded, unit realization fell and broad wireless ARPU edged up during the same quarter. They do not identify the commercial choices or mix effects behind that pattern. The next useful evidence would separate operators and service areas, show data revenue and volume on a consistent basis, and connect both to active subscribers, plan composition, network costs and quality.

Sources