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India’s Internet Trends Shift as Mobile Dips, FWA and M2M Rise

M2M

Business Honor
02 June, 2025

Rural India sees growth in wireless internet and smart device networks.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reports that there were 943.09 million broadband customers in India in April 2025, a minor drop from 944.12 million in March. This represents a 0.11% fall, reflecting a moderation in the overall growth of broadband services in the country. Mobile broadband, still the biggest category of Internet users, lost subscribers. In April, the number was 896.81 million, down from 897.84 million in March. Wired broadband experienced a marginal growth with an increase of almost 20,000 users to reach a total of 41.41 million.

One of the April highlights was the increase in Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services. The FWA base increased to 7.50 million from 6.77 million, representing a 10.79% increase. Notably, approximately 37% of the users are in rural locations, where fixed-line broadband is not available. Initiatives by governments such as BharatNet are helping to increase internet access in these areas.

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) connections also gained momentum. They are utilized in smart appliances such as utility meters and industrial machinery. The number of M2M connections increased from 66.54 million to 69.87 million in April. With 37.28 million users, Bharti Airtel leads the M2M market. Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, and BSNL are next in line.

TRAI released further suggestions in April 2025 to help the fledgling M2M industry. These include more rigorous quality standards for utilities, security networks, and healthcare. The regulator also suggested enabling M2M SIM transfers between operators to enable businesses to continue services uninterrupted during network shifts.

India's entire cellular subscriber base increased by 2.68 million during the month, although only 1.072 billion of its 1.166 billion users were active. The rate of active users declined marginally to 92.56%. The urban-rural digital divide remains a big challenge, with wireless technology being key to crossing the connectivity divide.