Telecom News --

Indian Telecom market crosses 800 million mark

New Delhi, 07 March, 2011

Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st January 2011

• Active wireless subscribers in VLR in Jan- 2011 is 548.66 Million
  
  
• Broadband subscription reaches to 11.21 Million in Jan-2011 from 10.71 Million in Dec-2010

Total Telephone Subscribers

• The number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 806.13 Million at the end of January 2011 from 787.28 Million in December 2010, thereby registering a growth rate of 2.39%. The share of Urban Subscriber has declined to 66.79% from 67% where as share of Rural Subscribers has increased from 33% to 33.21%. With this, the overall Tele-density in India reaches 67.67.
  
  
• Subscription in Urban Areas grew from 527.50 million in December 2010 to 538.38 million at the end of January 2011. Rural subscription increased from 259.78 million to 267.74. The growth of Rural Subscription (3.07%) is higher than the Urban Subscription (2.06%). The overall Urban teledensity has increased from 147.88 to 150.67 and Rural teledensity increased from 31.18 to 32.11.

Wireless Segment (GSM, CDMA & FWP)

• Total Wireless subscriber base increased from 752.19 Million in December 2010 to 771.18 Million at the end of January 2011 registering a growth of 2.52%. The share of Urban Subscriber has declined to 66.42% from 66.65% where as share of Rural Subscribers has increased from 33.35% to 33.58%. The overall wireless Tele-density in India reaches 64.74.
  
  
• Wireless subscription in Urban Areas increased from 501.30 million in December 2010 to 512.26 million at the end of January 2011. Rural subscription increased from 250.89 million to 258.93. This shows higher growth in Rural Subscription (3.20%) than Urban Subscription (2.19%). The Urban wireless teledensity has increased from 140.53 to 143.36 and Rural teledensity increased from 30.11 to 31.05.
  
  
• Private operators hold 87.78% of the wireless market share where as BSNL and MTNL, two PSU operators hold only 12.22% market share. The graphical presentations of market shares and shares in net additions of all the service providers during the month of January 2011 are given below:

Wireless Service: Service Providers’ share in net additions during the month of January 2010

Service Provider wise Market Share as on 31-12-2010

VLR Data

Out of the total 771.18 Million subscribers, 548.66 Million subscribers were active subscribers on the date of Peak VLR for the month of January 2011. The total active VLR number excludes the CDMA VLR figure of BSNL, as the service provider has not provided the VLR figures corresponding to their total CDMA subscriber base of 5.38 million. The proportion of VLR subscribers is approximately 71.14 % of the total wireless subscriber base reported by the service providers. Circle-wise, Jammu & Kashmir has the highest proportion of VLR subscribers with 81.26% followed by Assam (81.02%) and Maharashtra (77.58%); Mumbai has the lowest proportion with 59.59%. Service Provider wise, Bharti leads the tally with 92.63% closely followed by Idea with 90.34%; Etisalat is at the bottom with 33.55%. The detailed statistics is at Annexure II & the methodology used for reporting subscriber base/active subscribers is at Annexure IV.

Wireline Segment

Wireline subscriber base declined from 35.09 Million in December 2010 to 34.94 Million at the end of January 2011. The share of Urban Subscriber has increased from 74.68% to 74.77% where as share of Rural Subscribers has declined to 25.23% from 25.32%. The overall wireline Tele-density in India declines to 2.93 with urban and rural teledensity being 7.31 and 1.06 respectively. BSNL and MTNL, two PSU operators hold 82.82 % of the Wireline market share. Detailed statistics is at Annexure-III. The graphical presentation of market share of all service provider AS ON 31ST January 2011 is given below:

Service Provider wise Market Share as on 31-01-2011

Circle wise Growth

From the below table, Circle B shows the highest net addition in wireless sector as well as highest rate of monthly growth from December 2011 to January 2011.

Category wise Net Additions during the Month of January - 2011

         
Category-wise Growth Rate in Access Service

Broadband (≥ 256 Kbps download)

-end-

Click here to see Operator Specific numbers (with Active VLR numbers)

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Wireless subscription crosses 750 Million, only 70% in active state

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