MNP gets a thumbs up; 45 million subscribers till April '12

Mobile Number Portability or MNP, essentially gives a subscriber a chance to move out of their existing service provider onto a new service provider without having to forego their number. With power in their hands, subscribers are no longer tied to their providers, if they’re unhappy with them. Now, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI)Telecom Subscription Data as on 30th April 2012, the number of takers for MNP rose from 41.88 million subscribers at the end of March 2012 to 45.89 million at the end of April 2012. In fact, if the figures in this report are anything to go by then in April 2012 alone, 4.01 million MNP requests were made. Elaborating on the numbers a little futher, the report adds that in MNP Zone-I (Northern and Western India), Gujarat emerged as the state with the largest number of MNP requests at 4.23 million, followed by Rajasthan at 4.10 million. Then in MNP Zone-II (Southern and Eastern), Karnataka emerged as the state with the maximum number of MNP requests at 5.11 million, followed by Andhra Pradesh Service area (4.44 million). To get a better idea of the numbers elsewhere in the country, you can refer to the image below -

How the nation fared MNP-wise

The report further details on how the nation fared in this sector, and it adds that the number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 952.91 million at the end of April 2012 from 951.34 million at the end of March 2012, following a growth rate of 0.16 percent. Interestingly, the report saw the share of urban subscribers dip to 64.95 percent from 65.23 percent, while that of  rural subscribers has increased to 35.05 percent in the month of April 2012. The overall teledensity in the country has reached  78.71 at the end of April 2012 from 78.66 of the previous month. The report adds, “Subscription in Urban Areas declined from 620.53 million in March, 2012 to 618.92 million at the end of April, 2012. Subscription in Rural Areas increased from 330.82 million to 334.00 million during the same period. The growth rate of Urban and Rural Subscription is 0.26% and 3.18% respectively. The overall Urban teledensity has decreased from 169.55 to 168.83 and Rural teledensity increased from 39.22 to 39.57.”

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The wireless segment in the country, comprising GSM, CDMA and FWP users, too fared well. The total wireless subscriber base increased from 919.17 million in March 2012 to 921.02 million at the end of April 2012, holding a growth of 0.20 percent.  The share of urban subscribers decreased from 64.83 percent to 64.54 percent, while that of rural subscribers increased from 35.17 percent to 35.46 percent. The overall wireless teledensity in India has reached 76.07. The report adds, “Wireless subscription in urban Areas decreased from 595.90 million in March 2012 to 594.45 million at the end of April 2012. The subscription in Rural Areas increased from 323.27 million to 326.57 million during the same period. This shows higher growth in Rural Subscription (1.02%) than Urban Subscription (-0.24%). The Urban wireless teledensity has decreased from 162.82 to 162.15 and Rural teledensity has increased from 38.33 to 38.69.”

The subscriber base of broadband, too grew from 13.79 million at the end of March 2012 to 13.95 million at the end of April 2012, depicting a monthly growth of 1.13 percent. According to the report, as on 30th April 2012, there are 156 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) providing broadband services in the country and the top three ISPs, in terms of market share (based on subscriber base) are: BSNL (9.00 million), Bharti Airtel (1.36 million) and MTNL (1.05 million).

To read the complete report, click here. 

Cover image credit: Getty Images