Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for time period January to March, 2012 . This quarterly report mainly provides a detailed view on the Telecom Services and presents the key parameters and growth trends for the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadcasting services in India for the period covering January to March 2012, and is compiled on the basis of information furnished by the Service Providers.
Key points from the TRAI report –
- 951.34 Million total telecom subscribers ( both Wireless and Wireline) in India which is 2.68% change over the previous quarter. Urban telecom subscribers now at 620.52 Million and Rural telecom subscribers at 330.82 Million.
- Total Wireless telecom subscribers (GSM+CDMA) raised to 919.17 Million, with 25.33 million net additions during the quarter and registering 2.83% growth rate.
- Jammu & Kashmir added the maximum number of telecom subscribers during the quarter with total 6.51 million subscribers with a net addition of 0.29 million and recording a growth rate of 4.71%, followed by Haryana (4.64%) and UP-E (4.39%). Mumbai accounted for the lowest with subscribers decreasing from 40.24 million to 39.29 millon, a net decrease of -0.94. Kerala also reported negative growth rate on telecom subscribers addition.
- Bharti Airtel is the leading operator with 184.55 Million telecom subscribers, followed by Reliance (153.05 million) and Vodafone (150.47 million). In terms of net addition to telecom subscribers Idea (6.34 million) is on the 1st position, followed by Unitech & Bharti. Tata, S-Tel & Etisalat have recorded -ve growth during the quarter.
- Idea cellular continues to be the Service provider with highest proportion of Rural subscribers (53.68%) to its total subscribers.
- Wireline subscriber base further declined from 32.69 million at the end of Dec-11 to 32.17 million at the end of Mar-12.
- Internet subscribers has increased from 22.39 million at the end of Dec-11 to 22.86 million at the end of Mar-12, registering a quarterly growth rate of 2.10%. In extra there are 448.89 million wireless subscribers who have subscribed to Data services (GRPS/EDGE/3G/4G).
- Number of Broadband subscribers increased from 13.35 million at the end of Dec-11 to 13.81 million at the end of Mar-12, registering a quarterly growth of 3.44%. BSNL holds 55.32% of the market share with reported subscriber base of 12.65 million Internet subscribers, followed by Reliance ISP (3.58 million) and MTNL (2.54 million).
- There are a total of 36 ISP providing internet backbone in India. Maharashtra is having largest Internet and Broadband subscriber base in the country followed by Tamil Nadu.
- At the end of Mar 2012, total number of permitted private satellite TV channels registered with Ministry of I&B, as obtained from its website, is 831.
- Apart from All India Radio, Prasar Bharti – a public broadcaster, there are 245 private FM Radio stations in operation at the end of Mar 2012.
- Besides the free DTH service of Doordarshan, there are 6 private DTH licensees, offering their services to the DTH subscribers covering around 46.25 million subscribers.