Number of telephone subscribers in India rises to 1,059.86 million in June 2016

NEW DELHI: The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,058.03 million at the end of May-16 to 1,059.86 million at the end of Jun- 16, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.17%," according to latest report of  Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),

"The urban subscription increased from 604.98 million at the end of May-16 to 609.45 million at the end of Jun-16 whereas the rural subscription declined from 453.05 million to 450.41 million during the same period.The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 0.74% and -0.58% respectively during the month of Jun-16,"  telecom regulator said in its statement.

The overall Tele-density in India increased from 83.14 at the end of May-16 to 83.20 at the end of Jun- 16. The Urban Tele-density increased from 152.34 at the end of May-16 to 153.22 at the end of Jun-16, whereas the Rural Tele-density declined from 51.75 at the end of May-16 to 51.41 at the end of Jun-16. The share of urban subscribers and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of Jun-16 was 57.50% and 42.50% respectively.

Wireless Subscribers

Total wireless subscriber base increased from 1,033.16 million at the end of May-16 to 1,035.12 million at the end of Jun-16, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.19%. The Wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 584.25 million at the end of May-16 to 588.78 million at the end of Jun-16, whereas wireless subscription in rural areas declined from 448.90 million to 446.33 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were 0.78% and -0.57% respectively.

The Wireless Tele-density in India increased from 81.18 at the end of May- 16 to 81.26 at the end of Jun-16. The Urban Wireless Tele-density increased from 147.12 at the end of May-16 to 148.03 at the end of Jun-16, whereas Rural Wireless Tele-density declined from 51.27 to 50.95 during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in total number of wireless subscribers was 56.88% and 43.12% respectively at the end of Jun-16.

As on 30th June, 2016, the private access service providers held 91.00% market share of the wireless subscribers whereas BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, had a market share of only 9.00%.

Active Wireless Subscribers (VLR Data)

Out of the total wireless subscriber base (1,035.12 million), 915.12 million wireless subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in the month of Jun-16. The proportion of active wireless subscribers was approximately 88.41% of the total wireless subscriber base.

The detailed statistics on proportion of active wireless subscribers (also referred to as VLR subscribers) on the date of peak VLR in the month of Jun-16.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Intra-service area Mobile number portability (MNP) has been implemented in Haryana service area w.e.f. 25.11.2010 and in the rest of the country w.e.f. 20.01.2011. Inter-Service Area MNP has been implemented in the country w.e.f. 03.07.2015. Now, the wireless telephone subscribers can retain their mobile numbers when they relocate from one service area to another.

In the month of Jun-16, a total of 5.16 million requests were received for MNP. With this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 219.27 million at the end of May-16 to 224.43 million at the end of Jun-16, since the implementation of MNP.

In MNP Zone-I (Northern and Western India), the highest number of requests till date have been received in Rajasthan (about 19.16 million) followed by Gujarat (about 16.83 million).

In MNP Zone-II (Southern and Eastern India), the highest number of requests till date have been received in Karnataka (about 24.77 million) followed by Andhra Pradesh (about 21.05 million).

Wireline Subscribers

Wireline subscriber base declined from 24.87 million at the end of May- 16 to 24.74 million at the end of Jun-16. Net decline in the wireline subscriber base was 0.13 million with a monthly decline rate of 0.52%.

The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers was 83.51% and 16.49% respectively at the end of Jun-16.

The Overall Wireline Tele-density declined from 1.95 at the end of May-16 to 1.94 at the end of Jun-16. Urban Wireline Tele-density and Rural Wireline Tele-density were workout as 5.20 and 0.47 respectively.

BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, held 71.47% of the wireline market share.

Broadband (≥ 512 Kbps download)

As per the reports received from the service providers, the number of broadband subscribers increased from 159.76 Million at the end of May- 16 to 159.80 million at the end of Jun-16 with a monthly growth rate of 0.03%.

Top five service providers constituted 84.38% market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Jun-16. These service providers were Bharti Airtel (40.61 million), Vodafone (32.28 million), Idea Cellular (27.02 million), BSNL (20.56 million) and Reliance Communications Group (14.38 million).

As on 30th June, 2016, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL (9.88 million), Bharti Airtel (1.82 million), MTNL (1.10 million), Atria Convergence Technologies (1.02 million) and YOU Broadband (0.56 million).

As on 30th June, 2016, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Bharti Airtel (38.79 million), Vodafone (32.27 million), Idea Cellular (27.02 million), Reliance Communications Group (14.26 million) and BSNL (10.68 million).