Despite hard economic times, the telecom boom is continuing in India. According to the recent report published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), number of wireless subscriber rose to 15.4 million in January compared to 10.8 million in December 2008. Now, the bad news is, number of fixed line subscribers fell by 1,50,000; a common phenomenon observed all over the world.
Currently, India, one of the fastest growing telecommunication markets in the world has a subscriber base of 362.3 million and still the market has growth potential. India’s tele-density reached 34.5% in January compared to 33.23% in December. This includes both people with fixed lines and mobile phones.
Leading the pack is Bharti Airtel with 2.73 million subscriber added in January. Bharti Airtel’s current subscriber base is 88.38 million which was 85.65 million in December. Reliance picked up 4.95 million new subscribers in the previous month followed by Vodafone Essar’s 2.4 million and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) 1.35 million.
Related articles:
Wireless Week
The Wall Street Journal
(This entry was first published in February 2009. Because of a technical problem, the entry had to be deleted and I am reposting again now.)