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Telecom customer base crosses 97 M
By siliconindia staff writer
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Friday, 08 April 2005, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI:The total telecom customer base in India has crossed the 97 million mark, an official government document said. With this addition, the tele-density has increased from 7 percent in April 2004 to 8.98 percent at the end of February 2005.
Mobile phones were the biggest gainers during the year as they accounted for 86 percent of all new connections. The number of mobile phones is about 51.4 million till the end of February with the private sector operators accounting for 46.12 million mobile phones contributing 77.93 percent of the expansion, the document said. About 2.1 million new fixed line phones were added in the 11-month period between April 2004 and February 2005. This also includes wireless in local loop fixed phones.
Though cities have been the biggest beneficiaries of the telecom revolution in India as private sector pushed more into the cities, only the State owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has provided direct exchange lines and village public telephones (VPTs) in rural areas. As against 692,000 additional telephones provided in rural areas during 2003-04 (April-February), BSNL has provided 997,000 telephones during the same 11-month period of 2004-05.