India telephone subscriber base declines in September quarter

The number of telephone subscribers in India declined to 1.20 billion users in the quarter ended 30 September 2017, from 1.21 billion at the end of June 2017. India’s telephone customer base decreased by 0.34 percent quarter-on-quarter, but grew by 12.33 percent year-on-year. The overall teledensity in India also decreased from 93.98 in June to 93.40 in September 2017, according to a report from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI).

Subscription in Urban Areas increased from 700.96 million in June 2017 to 704.89 million at end-September, while urban teledensity also increased from 172.98 to 173.15. However, rural subscription decreased from 509.88 million to 501.82 million, and Rural teledensity also fell from 57.73 to 56.71.

India’s total mobile (GSM+CDMA) subscriber base declined from 1.186 billion at end-June to 1.183 billion at end-September, which represents a quarterly decline rate of 0.32 percent. However, the year-on-year growth rate of mobile subscribers for September 2017 was 12.70 percent. Mobile teledensity fell from 92.12 at the end of June to 91.56 at 30 September 2017.

India’s fixed-line subscriber base fell from 24 million at end-June to 23.67 million at end-September, registering a quarterly decline of 1.37 percent. The year-on-year decline rate in the number of fixed-line subscribers for September 2017 was 3.36 percent. Fixed teledensity dropped from 1.86 at the end of June to 1.83 at 30 September.

The total number of internet subscribers also fell from 431.21 million at end-June to 429.23 million at end-September, with a quarterly decline of 0.46 percent. Of these, 21.35 million were fixed internet users and 407.88 million were wireless internet subscribers. India had 324.89 million broadband internet users at end-September, up from 300.84 million in June.