The Hindu Business Line : Mobile subscriber base breaches 200-m mark

Growth chart
8.31 million wireless subscribers added in August compared with 8.06 million in July.
Wire line subscriber base stood at 39.73 million with a decrease of 0.16 million.
Total broadband connections reached 2.56 million by August-end.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Sept. 21 The telecom sector continued to grow at a scorching pace in August with over 8.3 million new subscribers.

The total number of telephone subscribers, including fixed line, has reached 241.02 million at the end of August compared with 232.87 million in July. The overall tele-density has increased to 21.2 per cent.

Growth driver

The growth has been propelled by the wireless segment where 8.31 million subscribers have been added last month compared with 8.06 million in July.

With this, the total wireless subscriber base, including GSM and CDMA, has reached 201.29 million.

Bharti was the biggest gainer with more than 2 million new subscribers making it the largest operator with over 46 million subscribers.

However, the fight for the second spot in the mobile segment is intensifying between Vodafone, Reliance Communications and BSNL which have 34.1 million, 34.8 million and 33.4 million subscribers, respectively.

Cheaper handsets

While RCOM recently launched a handset for Rs 777, Vodafone is expected to launch cheaper handsets along with its connection.

The company has said that it wants to take the number one slot from Bharti Airtel over the next one year.

BSNL is also ramping up its network for accommodating 23 million new subscribers over next year.

Meanwhile, the wire line segment subscriber base stood at 39.73 million with a decrease of 0.16 million.

Analysts said fixed line user base could pick up only if new services such as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) are aggressively rolled out by fixed line operators.

broadband connections

Total broadband connections in the country reached 2.56 million by the end of August. Half of this is owned by State-owned BSNL. Though the Government has set a target of 10 million subscribers by the end of 2007, the sluggish growth would make it a difficult objective.

During August, there was an increase of only 0.09 million broadband connections.

The telecom regulator has urged the Government to take urgent policy initiatives to boost broadband growth in the country.

Measures suggested by TRAI include release of spectrum for offering wireless broadband through third generation technology and also Wi-Max.

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