BENGALURU: The number of wireless (mobile) subscribers in India shrank by 1.7 crore to 114 crore in April-June — when a national lockdown was in force — and was yet to reach the pre-April level even by August-end, despite additions reported in the two months after June.
The decline in the June quarter is largely because of a dip in urban subscribers; rural subscriptions actually increased. While urban users increased in July and August, rural subscriptions increased in July and dipped in August. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the number of total wireless subscribers decreased to 114 crore in end-June from 115.7 crore at the end of March.
Neil Shah, vice-president (research) of Counterpoint Research, said, “The major factor was the return of migrant workers to their hometowns, a lot of them stopped recharging their mobiles. Also, the lockdown had an impact on many low-income group families whose mobile usage dipped, resulting in a decline in subscriptions.”
The quarterly decline rate was 1.5%, and the net decline recorded during the quarter was 1.7 crore subscribers. Wireless teledensity — number of connections per 100 people — in the country decreased to 84.4 at the end of June from 85.9 at end-March. Over the next two months, the number of subscribers marginally increased to 114.4 crore in July and further jumped to 114.7 crore in August. However, the number is still not comparable with pre-April levels.
Further, the overall number of telephone subscribers — wired and wireless — in India decreased from 117.7 crore at the end of March to 116 crore at the end of June.