Broadband connections in India grew by 0.97% between August and September 2023, going from 876.53 million at the end of August to 885 million at the end of September, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority’s (TRAI) telecom subscription data. Of these, wired broadband connections saw the most significant growth rate of 1.23% going from 36.41 million in August to 36.87 million in September. Similarly, mobile device users (which includes phones and dongles) also increased going from 839.13 million in August to 847.17 million in September. It is also notable that fixed wireless connections (which include Wi-Fi) declined by 2.51% in the same period.
Key observations from the data:
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio’s continued majority: In September, Airtel and Jio were the only two companies that saw an increase in their wired and wireless subscriber base. Airtel added 3,475,488 wireless subscribers and 149,606 wired subscribers and Jio added 1,320,356 wireless and 128,642 wired subscribers respectively. Besides the two, other telecom players —Vodafone Idea, BSNL, and MTNL—lost subscribers in both categories.
Recovery of active wireless subscribers: The number of active wireless subscribers went from 1043.38 million in August to 1046.82 million in September. Notably, active wireless subscribers had fallen by 3.03 million between July and August. Of all the telecom operators in India, Airtel has the maximum proportion of active wireless subscribers at 99.57%. The company has 377.78 million subscribers overall of which 376.15 are active wireless subscribers.
Changes in teledensity: Teledensity in India has increased from 84.69% at the end of August to 84.76% at the end of September. Urban teledensity decreased from 133.55% at the end of August to 133.54% at the end of September 23. However, rural teledensity increased from 57.97% to 58.05% during the same period.
Also read:
- Broadband Connections Surge To 876.53 Million In August, Wireless Leads Growth
- India’s Data Consumption Soars In 2023: TRAI Report Highlights
- Broadband Connections In The Country Rose By 0.78% In July: TRAI
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