India’s mobile phone subscriber base grows to 988.49 million
24 Feb 2018
Total mobile subscriber base in India looks set to hit the 1-billion mark soon with their numbers swelling to 988.49 million in January 2018, figures released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Friday showed.
COAI is the apex industry association representing the country's major telecom, internet, technology and digital services companies.
Bharti Airtel Ltd continues to hold the top position with 29.50 per cent market share, adding another 15,02,755 subscribers during January, to take its total subscriber base to 291.61 million subscribers.
Airtel is closely followed by Vodafone India Ltd, which ended January with 213.81 million subscribers, while Idea Cellular Ltd had 197.64 million subscribers at the end January 2018.
Region wise, Uttar Pradesh (East) circle remained at the top with a total of 85.58 million subscribers, while Maharashtra remained at second position with a total of 81.56 million mobile subscribers, as per the COAI report.
"The increased numbers are a glimmer of hope for the sector, which is going through one of its darkest phases due to hyper-competition and poor financial health. All the operators have significantly expanded their services across the country, and have begun heavily diversifying their services beyond voice and data for the consumer.
The industry has ensured that government's 'Digital India' programme reaches the farthest corners of the country and everyone reaps the benefit of new communication technologies," said director general, COAI, Rajan S Mathews.
"Our member operators have made a further commitment to invest another Rs74,000 crore in their recent meeting at the Department of Telecommunications, for enhanced consumer experience and seamless connectivity. However, Right of Way (RoW) and myths around EMF continue to remain impediment for the industry for accessing current sites. We urge the government and our citizens to help us, serve them better," Mathews added.
The telecom industry has emerged as one of the most important industries in the country with mobile connectivity and data services playing a pivotal role in the government's scheme of things.
COAI has called for urgent and immediate intervention to encourage policy and regulatory stability, and facilitate growth, innovation and investment in the sector in view of the rising competition that failing financial health of the industry.
