Telecom subscriber base dips in February

Telecom subscriber base in India dipped 0.13% to 892.02 million in February 2013, from 893.15 million till January 2013, according to a statement by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Overall teledensity also declined to 72.90 at the end of February 2013, compared to 73.07 reported till January 31, 2013.

While companies have added new subscribers in the rural areas with a monthly growth of 1.93%, they have reported a net drop of 1.39% in subscriber base in the urban areas in February 2013.

According to TRAI, Bharti Airtel has maintained its leadership with a 21.66% market share, followed by Vodafone India with 17.40%, Reliance Communications (13.92%), Idea Cellular (13.84%) and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) that has a 11.68% market share till February 2013.

In February, companies have received 2,566,464 fresh requests for mobile number portability.

In the wireline segment, BSNL still controls the market with a 67.82% share.