According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the telecom subscriber base in India increased from 933 million at the end of March 2014 to 935.81 million at the end of April 2014, registering a monthly growth of 0.30 per cent.
The telecom industry added about 2.81 million users in period under review. The country’s wireless subscriber base increased from 904.51 million in March 2014 to 907.44 million at the end of April 2014 witnessing a growth of 0.32 per cent. However, fixed line subscriber base declined from 28.49 million in March 2014 to 28.36 million in April 2014.
Further, mobile services subscriber base in rural areas increased from 377.73 million in March 2014 to 379.52 million in April 2014. Meanwhile, subscriber base in urban areas increased from 555.26 million in March 2014 to 556.29 million in April 2014.
According to TRAI, as of April 2014, private operators held 89.36 per cent of the wireless subscriber market share, while state operators Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited together held 10.64 per cent market share.
Meanwhile, during April 2014, the broadband connections registered a growth of 1.45 per cent with the total broadband user base in the country increasing from 60.87 million in March 2014 to 61.74 million in April 2014. Further, wireless connections dominated the broadband segment with about 45.61 million subscribers compared to 14.86 million fixed line broadband subscribers. For the period under review, BSNL led the broadband market with 16.94 million users, followed by Bharti Airtel (12.84 million), Idea Cellular (7.45 million), Vodafone India (7.26 million) and Reliance Communications (7.15 million).