Indian telecom subscribers 970.97 mn till December 2014

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 964.20 million at end of November 2014 to 970.97 million at end of December, 2014, showing a monthly growth rate of 0.70 percent, data released by regulator TRAI said Friday.

The urban subscription increased from 568.72 million at the end of November 2014 to 572.29 million at the end of December 2014 and the rural subscription increased from 395.48 million to 398.68 million during the same period, said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were 0.63 percent and 0.81 percent respectively, it stated.

The overall tele-density in India increased from 77.12 at the end of November 2014 to 77.58 at the end of December 2014.

Total wireless subscriber base increased from 937.06 million at the end of November 2014 to 943.97 million at the end of December 2014, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.74 percent.

The wireless tele-density in India increased from 74.95 at the end of November 2014 to 75.43 at the end of December 2014.

Wireline subscriber base declined from 27.14 million at the end of November 2014 to 27.00 million at the end of December 2014. Net reduction in the wireline subscriber base was 0.14 million at the monthly decline rate of 0.53 percent.

In the month of December 2014, a total of 3.49 million subscribers submitted their requests for mobile number portability.

The number of broadband subscribers increased from 82.22 million at the end of November 2014 to 85.74 million at the end of December 2014 with monthly growth rate of 4.28 percent.