Indian telecom user base up 17.98 mn in June

Telecom operators have added 17.98 million new users in June, taking the total telephone subscriber base in the country to 671.69 million.

The wireless subscriber base (GSM, CDMA and fixed wireless phones) reached 635.51 million by the end of June, from 617.53 million in May, registering a growth of 2.91 per cent, according to figures released by telecom regulator TRAI.

The overall teledensity reached 56.83 per cent.

The growth in the wireless category was led by Bharti Airtel, which added three million users, taking its subscriber base to 136.6 million. Vodafone added 2.71 million subscribers in June, taking its user-base to 109 million. Idea Cellular and Aircel added 2.15 million and 1.60 million new users, respectively, during the month. Reliance Communications added 2.83 million new users, while Tata Teleservices added 2.32 million subscribers.

State-run telcos BSNL and MTNL added 1.01 million and 43,881 new users, respectively.

The wireline subscriber base continued to decline and stood at 36.18 million in June from 36.39 million in the previous month. BSNL and MTNL hold 84.09 per cent of the wireline market share. The total broadband subscriber base increased 2.27 per cent to 9.45 million from 9.24 million in May, the report said.