India adds 59.4 mn mobile users in March qtr

Indian telecom companies added a whopping 59.40 million mobile users during the quarter ended March 31, 2011, taking the wireless subscriber base to 811.59 million.

The wireless (GSM and CDMA) user base grew by 7.9% on quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) basis to 811.59 million during January-March period, from 752.19 million at the end of December 31, 2010, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said in a statement.

The total telecom subscriber base (wireline and wireless) touched 846.32 million for the quarter ended March 2011, from 787.28 million in the quarter ended December 2010, a sequential increase of 7.5%.

The overall tele-density (number of telephones per 100 people) for the reported quarter reached 70.89, Trai said.

However, the all-India blended Average Revenue Per User (Arpu) per month for the GSM segment (full mobility) decreased by 4.52% (Q-o-Q) to Rs 100 in March quarter from Rs 105 in December quarter, while for the CDMA segment Arpu stood at Rs 66 during the same period.

Subscriber base of wireline service declined from 35.09 million at the end of December quarter, to 34.73 million on March 31, 2011, taking the wireline tele-density to 2.91.

During the January-March quarter, subscription in urban areas increased to 564.08 million, while rural subscription grew to 282.23 million, taking the tele-density in these areas to 157.32 and 33.79, respectively.

The total Internet subscriber base reached 19.67 million for the March quarter from 18.69 million in the previous quarter, registering an increase of about 5.29%.

Share of broadband subscription in total Internet subscription increased to 60.40% in March quarter with 11.89 million subscribers, it said.