India's telephone user base rises to 886 million

The number of telephone users in India rose 1.29 per cent to 885.99 million as of end-June 2011, from 874.68 million at the end of May 2011.

With this, the overall tele-density (number of telephone connections per 100 people) in India rose to 73.97 in June, from 73.11 in the previous month, according to data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

As of June-end, private operators had 88.35 per cent of the wireless market share whereas two state-owned operators - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) - had only 11.65 per cent market share.

The share of urban subscribers fell marginally to 66.36 per cent from 66.38 per cent, whereas the share of rural users rose marginally to 33.64 per cent from 33.62 per cent.

Subscription in urban areas grew 1.26 per cent to 587.94 million in June, from 580.62 million in May, while rural subscription grew 1.35 per cent to 298.05 million from 294.07 million.

The overall urban tele-density rose to 163.13 from 161.37 and that across rural areas rose to 35.60 from 35.15.