Telecom ARPU rises, but prepaid users generate more revenue than postpaid customers

India’s prepaid mobile users are generating nearly 76% more average monthly revenue per user than postpaid subscribers, highlighting a striking difference in revenue realisation across the country’s wireless telecom market.

The monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) for prepaid services stood at ₹200.72 in the April-June quarter of 2026, compared with ₹114.26 for postpaid services, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) latest Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report.

Overall wireless ARPU rose 1.19% sequentially to ₹187.12 in the June quarter from ₹184.91 in the March quarter. On a year-on-year basis, wireless ARPU increased 3.11%.

The divergence between prepaid and postpaid ARPU raises questions about how subscriber behaviour, tariff structures and customer composition influence revenue generation in India’s telecom industry.

Prepaid leads on reported ARPU

Prepaid ARPU was approximately 75.7% higher than postpaid ARPU during the quarter. The figures challenge the conventional assumption that postpaid customers necessarily generate more revenue for telecom operators.

However, the data does not establish why prepaid ARPU is higher. Differences in the composition of subscriber bases, plan selection, recharge behaviour and the services included in individual tariffs could influence the reported figures.

The distinction is important because ARPU measures average revenue per user, rather than the price of a particular plan or the profitability of a customer segment. A higher ARPU does not automatically translate into higher margins, as the cost of serving subscribers also matters.

Telecom revenue continues to expand

The increase in overall ARPU came alongside growth in data consumption and the subscriber base. Wireless mobile data usage rose 8.30% sequentially to 84,424 petabytes in the June quarter, while average monthly data consumption per wireless data subscriber increased 6.32% to 28.39 GB.

At the same time, average revenue realisation per GB declined 5.07% to ₹7.13 from ₹7.51 in the preceding quarter. The contrasting trends suggest that greater data consumption does not necessarily translate into proportionately higher revenue per unit of usage.

The telecom sector’s gross revenue reached ₹1.068 lakh crore in the June quarter, up 10.50% year-on-year. Adjusted gross revenue (AGR) rose 9.19% year-on-year to ₹88,796 crore.

Telecom ARPU and subscriber trends

Source: TRAI, Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report, April–June 2026.

What the numbers mean for operators

For telecom operators, the challenge is to convert rising consumption into sustainable revenue growth while managing network investment and service costs. The prepaid-postpaid ARPU gap also underscores the importance of understanding customer mix rather than treating subscriber additions alone as a measure of commercial performance.

TRAI’s report provides sector-wide averages and does not explain the causes of the ARPU difference or provide a company-wise breakdown of prepaid and postpaid revenue. Determining whether the gap reflects tariff choices, usage patterns or subscriber composition would require more detailed operator-level data.