According to the latest figures by TRAI, Indian telecom service providers added 15.41 million wireless users in January-09.
The total telecom subscriber base also exploded past 400 million mark in January end and giving a boost to India’s teledensity which now stands at 34.5%.
What’s really surprising is that this growth is even higher than the subscribers added in december 2008 which were 10.81 million whereas the economic scenario is more gloomier than last december.
Figures at a glance:
The total number of wireless users in the world’s fastest-growing telecom market was 362.30 million at the end of January.
The country’s fixed line user base, however, fell to 37.75 million in January from 37.90 million in December, TRAI said.
The country’s overall tele-density, or the number of phone users for every 100 individuals, was 34.50% at the end of January compared with 33.23% at the end of December.
Total broadband subscribers reached 5.65 mn in jan 2009 against 5.45 mn in dec 2008.
SUBSCRIBERS FIGURES FOR TOP 4 TELCOS:
| Company | Total users till Jan-09 | Added users in Jan |
| BHARTI AIRTEL | 88.38mn | 2.73mn |
| VODAFONE | 63.34mn | 2.4mn |
| R.COM | 61.34mn | 4.95mn |
| BSNL | 47.58mn | 1.3mn |
Explosive growth in telcos is no big surprise but what really seems to go out of picture is the dismal broadband numbers which no one seems to be talking about at the moment.
A miniscule broadband base of 5.65 mn is pathetic and no one seems to question TRAI about its ignorance to fasten things on the broadband end.
TRAI really needs to understand that good broadband scenario in India is much more important than 3G because high entry point barriers would definitely make 3G unaffordable in India for initial years to launch.
