India's tele-density touches 8.5 percent
By agencies   |   Tuesday, 08 February 2005, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI:IndiaÂ’s tele-density has increased to 93 million in December pushing up the country's tele-density to 8.59 percent from 7.08 percent in March last year. Out of the 16.4 million telephones added during April-December 2004, mobile phones numbered 87 percent, the IT and telecom ministry said adding the mobile phone subscriber base touched 48 million during the period, surpassing the number of fixed-line connections by over two million, the ministry said. The ministry attributed the growth in tele density to private operators who accounted 77 percent of the expansion during the nine months of April-December 2004. "The private sector also account for 46 percent of the total phones in country," the ministry said. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) pushed growth in rural telephony by adding 765,000 new connections during the same period as against 473,000 provided during the corresponding period in 2003. The ministry said various measures were taken to increase growth in the sector that included waiving of registration charges for booking leased lines from Jan 1, 2005, reduction in long distance prepaid call tariffs from 4.50 to 3 per minute, issuing of licenses to two new internet service and internet telephony service providers.

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