Telecom subscriber base crosses 1.1 billion mark in India: TRAI

NEW DELHI: The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,074.24 million at the end of September 2016 to 1,102.94 million at the end of October 2016, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 2.67%, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

“The urban subscription increased from 624.38 million at the end of September 2016 to 642.37 million at the end of Oct-16 and the rural subscription also increased from 449.86 million to 460.57 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 2.88% and 2.38% respectively during the month of October 2016,” it said.

The overall Tele-density in India increased from 84.09 at the end of September 16 to 86.25 at the end of Oct-16. The Urban Tele-density increased from 156.24 at the end of September 2016 to 160.50 at the end of October 2016, and the Rural Tele-density also increased from 51.24 at the end of Sep-16 to 52.43 at the end of October 2016. The share of urban subscribers and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of Oct-16 was 58.24% and 41.76% respectively.

“Total wireless subscriber base increased from 1,049.74 million at the end of September 16 to 1,078.42 million at the end of October16, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 2.73%. The Wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 603.80 million at the end of September 16 to 621.77 million at the end of October 2016, and wireless subscription in rural areas also increased from 445.94 million to 456.66 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were 2.97% and 2.40% respectively,” the statement said.

“The Wireless Tele-density in India increased from 82.17 at the end of September 16 to 84.34 at the end of October 2016. The Urban Wireless Tele-density increased from 151.10 at the end of September16 to 155.35 at the end of October16, and Rural Wireless Tele-density also increased from

50.80 to 51.98 during the same period. The share of urban and rural wireless subscribers in total number of wireless subscribers was 57.66% and 42.34% respectively at the end of October 2016,” as per the latest data released by TRAI.

As on 31st October, 2016, the private access service providers held 90.86% market share of the wireless subscribers whereas BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, had a market share of only 9.14%.

Active Wireless Subscribers (VLR Data)

Out of the total wireless subscriber base (1,078.42 million), 970.47 million wireless subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in the month of Oct-16. The proportion of active wireless subscribers was approximately 89.99% of the total wireless subscriber base.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Intra-service area Mobile number portability (MNP) was implemented first 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 Oct-16, a total of 4.93 million requests were received for MNP. With this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 239.46 million at the end of Sep-16 to 244.39 million at the end of Oct-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 20.66 million) followed by Gujarat (about 18.03 million).

In MNP Zone-II (Southern and Eastern India), the highest number of requests till date have been received in Karnataka (about 27.08 million) followed by Andhra Pradesh (about 22.56 million).

Wireline Subscribers

Wireline subscriber base increased from 24.49 million at the end of September 2016 to 24.52 million at the end of October 2016. Net addition in the wireline subscriber base was 0.02 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.10%. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 84.04% and 15.96% respectively at the end of October 2016.

The Overall Wireline Tele-density remained same i.e. 1.92 at the end of Oct-16 as compared to the end of Sep-16. Urban Wireline Tele-density and Rural Wireline Tele-density were 5.15 and 0.45 respectively during the same period.

BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, held 70.82% 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 192.30 Million at the end of September 2016 to 218.42 million at the end of October 2016 with a monthly growth rate of

13.59%. Segment-wise broadband subscribers and their monthly growth rates are as below:

Broadband Subscriber base and Monthly Growth Rates

Top five service providers constituted 80.36% market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of October16. These service providers were Bharti Airtel (48.17 million), Vodafone (40.19 million), Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd (35.94 million), Idea Cellular (29.76 million) and BSNL (21.46 million).

Market Share of Broadband(wired+wireless) Services

As on 31st October, 2016, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL (9.94 million), Bharti Airtel (1.95 million), Atria Convergence Technologies (1.12 million), MTNL (1.06 million) and YOU Broadband (0.59 million).

As on 31st October, 2016, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Bharti Airtel (46.22 million), Vodafone (40.19 million), Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (35.94 million), Idea Cellular (29.76 million) and Reliance Communications (16.95 million).