India, April 28 -- India has achieved near-universal connectivity in a country of 1.47 billion people, but does it stand up to scrutiny on quality, monetisation, and service innovation rather than sheer subscriber expansion? As per data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the numbers reflect sustained growth, with 9.28 million net additions in a month and broadband subscriptions crossing 1.06 billion.

The numbers released by the regulator re-emphasise the overwhelming dominance of wireless services: out of 1.33 billion subscribers, more than 1.28 billion are wireless users, relegating wireline connections to just 48.25 million. This skew is not new; this is a strong indication that, despite the policy push and o...