India’s Telecom Subscriber base declining  : Trai Report

New Delhi : India, the world’s largest growing telecom market, has reported 5% decline in  number of telecom subscribers till April end. According to the data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) the number of telephone subscribers in India declined from 1,206.22 million at the end of Mar-18 to 1,147.71 million at the end of Apr.

The urban subscription decline from 681.61 million at the end of Mar-18 to 643.87 million at the end of Apr-18, and the rural subscription also declined from 524.61 million to 503.84 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural subscription were -5.97% and -3.38% respectively during the month of Apr-18.

Total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & LTE) declined from 1,183.41 million at the end of Mar-18 to 1,125.07 million at the end of Apr-18, thereby registering a monthly decline rate of 4.93%. The Wireless subscription in urban areas declined from 662.18 million at the end of Mar-18 to 624.52 million at the end of Apr-18, and wireless subscriptions in rural areas also declined from 521.23 million to 500.55 million during the month. Wireline subscribers, on the other hand, further declined from 22.81 million at the end of Mar-18 to 22.64 million at the end of Apr-18. Net decline in the wireline subscriber base was 0.17 million with a monthly decline rate of 0.74%.

The  private access service providers held 89.70% market share of the wireless subscribers whereas BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, had a market share of only 10.30%. Bharti Airtel has remain the market leader with 27.44 % market share followed by Vodafone with 19.74% market share : Trai

The report said that as on April 30, the  private access service providers held 89.70% market share of the wireless subscribers whereas BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, had a market share of only 10.30%. Bharti Airtel has remain the market leader with 27.44 % market share followed by Vodafone with 19.74% market share.

The overall Tele-density in India declined from 92.84 at the end of Mar-18 to 88.26 at the end of Apr-18. The Urban Tele-density declined from 165.90 at the end of Mar-18 to 156.48 at the end of Apr-18, and Rural Tele-density also declined from 59.05 at the end of Mar-18 to 56.68 at the end of Apr-18.