BSNL, MTNL report slower rise in landline, mobile phone connections than private operators
10 March 2008
The number of telephone customers of BSNL and MTNL as on 31 January 2008 stood at 695.94 lakh and 68.72 lakh respectively.
This reflects an annual growth rate of rise in subscribers of 13.86 for BSNL and 7.99 for MTNL over January 2007. The number of BSNL landline, WLL and mobile phone connections during last two years and during 2007-08 (till the end of January) was:
(In Lakh)| BSNL | Landline | WLL | Mobile | Total |
| Year | ||||
| 2005-06 | -4.36 | 9.44 | 77.16 | 82.24 |
| 2006-07 | -16.84 | 9.84 | 102.64 | 95.64 |
| 2007-08 (upto Jan.08) | -21.31 | 6.81 | 63.20 | 48.70 |
| MTNL | Landline/ WLL | Mobile | Total |
| 2005-06 | 3.64 | 11.69 | 15.33 |
| 2006-07 | 3.91 | 10.62 | 14.53 |
| 2007-08 (upto Jan.08) | 2.81 | 6.65 | 9.46 |
The total subscribers of private and public sector telecom companies in the country and the number of subscribers of public and private sector telecom companies as on 31 Januar 2008 was:
| Name of the Company | Total Phones | Shares in % | |
| 1 | BSNL | 69593752 | 24.71 |
| 2 | MTNL | 6872942 | 2.44 |
| Total | 76466694 | 27.15 | |
| 1 | Bharti Airtel | 59627937 | 21.17 |
| 2 | Reliance Telecom. Ltd. | 43380206 | 15.40 |
| 3 | Vodafone | 41145413 | 14.61 |
| 4 | TATA Teleservices Ltd. | 23229484 | 8.25 |
| 5 | Idea Mobile Communication | 21954685 | 7.80 |
| 6 | Aircel | 9933815 | 3.53 |
| 7 | Spice Communication | 3942828 | 1.40 |
| 8 | BPL Mobile | 1256534 | 0.45 |
| 9 | HFCL Infotel Ltd. | 420263 | 0.15 |
| 10 | Shyam Telelink Ltd. | 261776 | 0.09 |
| Total | 205152941 | 72.85 | |
| Combined Total of public and private sector companies | 281619635 | 100 |
