Number Of New Phone Subscribers Dips In November

In what should worry India’s telecom industry, the country recorded a 1.06 percent dip in new telephone connections in November, according to official data released recently.

Altogether 10.18 million telephone connections (wireline and wireless) were added in November, as compared to 10.29 million connections in October, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

This takes the total number of telephone connections to 374.13 million at the end of November as compared to 363.95 million a month before.

The overall tele-density reached 32.34 percent, as against 31.5 percent at the end of October, TRAI said.

Total wireless subscriber base for GSM, CDMA and fixed wireless local loop stood at 336.08 million in November, with 10.35 million wireless subscribers being added during November as against 10.42 million in October.

In the wireline segment, the subscriber base actually decreased to 38.05 million in November from 38.22 million the previous month - a drop of 0.17 million.

However, broadband subscriber base for November reached 5.28 million as compared to 5.05 million the month before, the telecom watchdog said. (IANS)