Mobile subscriptions jump by 12 million in June

Telecom operators in the country added 12.3 million new subscribers in the wireless segment in June, even as fixed-line subscriptions dipped, according to figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Thursday.

"The wireless (GSM and CDMA) segment added 12.03 million new subscribers in June, while the wireline segment witnessed a dip of 120,000 connections," the statement said.

The wireless subscriber base increased from 415.2 million in May to 427.2 million at the end of June, registering a monthly growth rate of 2.9 per cent, it added.

At the same time, the wireline subscriber base declined from 3.76 crore in May to 3.75 crore at the end of June. BSNL and MTNL, which have about 86.2 per cent market share in the wireline segment, lost 1,90,000 users in June. While BSNL lost 1,81,277 subscribers, MTNL lost 8,998 subscribers.

The BSNL subscriber base stood at 28.7 million at June-end, while MTNL had 3.5 million subscribers.

Among the private operators, Airtel added about 2.8 million subscribers, taking the total user base to 102 million from 996 million at the end of May.

The overall tele-density has reached 39.86 per cent, while wireless tele-density stands at 36.64 per cent. ''The lower growth rate in the metros and the higher growth rate in the circle 'C' areas reflects the penetration levels,'' TRAI said. ''Subscription levels are currently witnessing higher growth rates in the so far under-served 'C' category circles.''

The total broadband subscriber base increased to 6.62 million from 6.4 million, thereby showing a growth rate of 3.4 per cent.