Home BusinessTelecom users cross 500-mn mark before targeted date
The total telecom subscriber base in India crossed 500 million at the end of September, taking the overall teledensity to 43.5 per cent. India is the second-biggest and fastest market for wireless services, behind China, which has over 600 million users.
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The number of telephone subscribers in India had increased to 509.03 million at the end of September, from 494.07 million in August, a growth rate of 3.03 per cent, according to figures released by telecom regulator, Trai. The government had set a target of 500 million telephones by the end of 2010, which has been achieved well in advance. The wireless subscription at the end of September reached 471.7 million, with a teledensity of 40.31 per cent. The wireline subscriber base declined from 37.33 million in August, from 37.31 million at the end of Septembert. This decline is mainly on account of reduction in the wireline subscriber base of BSNL and MTNL, which lost 0.06 million subscribers in September.