Telecom customer base rises to 98.73 cr in Feb

Telecom subscriber base in the country increased marginally to 98.73 crore in February as compared to the previous month, as per the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
The country's telecom subscriber base was largely dominated by mobile services segment.
"The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 979.21 million at the end of January 15 to 987.30 million at the end of February 15, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.83 per cent," TRAI said in a statement.
State-run BSNL lost 25.53 lakh customers to 6th position in terms of number of mobile subscribers from 5th rank. Aircel replaces BSNL at 5th spot.

"Total wireless subscriber base increased from 952.34 million at the end of January to 960.58 million at the end of February, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.86 per cent," the regulator said.
Out of the total wireless subscriber base of 96 crore, about 85 crore were found to be active in February.

The growth in mobile segment was led by telecom major Bharti Airtel which registered a net increase of over 30 lakh new customers.
It was followed by Idea Cellular with net addition of 25.67 lakh customers, Vodafone (19.5 lakh), Reliance Communications (12.48 lakh), Aircel (9.15 lakh), Uninor (6.65 lakh and Videocon (with Quadrant) 3.3 lakh.

Tata Teleservices and state-run MTNL showed marginal increase of 57,542 and 18,532 new customers in February.
Sistema Shyam, which operates under MTS brand name, also lost 37,293 customers.
Wireline or landline subscriber base declined to 2.67 crore in February from 2.68 crore in January.
BSNL which dominated landline market was biggest loser of landline customers while Airtel emerged as top gainer. BSNL net subscriber loss was 62, 556. But Airtel gained 11,768 customers.
The broadband subscriber base increased by 3.05 per cent to 9.73 crore at the end of February from 9.44 crore in January. Bharti Airtel account for over 2.08 crore broadband customers, BSNL 2.06 crore, Vodafone 1.79 crore, Idea 1.4 and RCom 77 lakh.

Customers using broadband from mobile devices stood at 8.15 crore while fixed line broadband user 1.54 crore and rest used it through wifi, VSAT and other broadband technology.