India ended September with 1.074 billion telephone subscribers, up by more than 20 million from August. The total comprises 1.049 billion wireless subscribers, up by 20.86 million in the month, and 24.49 million fixed-line subscribers, down by 20,000 in the month. In September, 5 million subscribers submitted requests for mobile number portability, according to figures from the Telecom Regularity Authority of India (Trai).
India’s mobile subscriber base increased by 2.03 percent month-on-month to 1.049 billion at end-September. Private operators held 90.72 percent of the mobile market share (based on subscriber base), while state-owned companies BSNL and MTNL held 9.28 percent market share.
India’s fixed-line subscriber base declined to 24.49 million in September from 24.51 million in the previous month. The net decrease in India’s fixed-line subscriber base was 0.02 million at a monthly decline rate of 0.07 percent. BSNL and MTNL held a share of 70.84 percent of the fixed-line market.
The Indian broadband subscriber base increased to 192.30 million at end-September, from 171.71 million a month earlier. Top five ISPs in terms of market share (based on subscriber base) are Bharti Airtel (46.19 million), Vodafone (35.94 million), Idea Cellular (30.72 million), BSNL (21.60 million) and Reliance Communications (16.74 million).
