The share of wireless segment in overall connections was 98.13 per cent by the end of August and wireline telephones share is only 1.87 per cent
Amid rapidly growing data consumption in India, the number of broadband subscribers reached 463.6 million at the end of August this year, an increase of 0.74 per cent over the corresponding month, as per the data released by the Department of Telecom (DoT).
The number of broadband subscribers in the country stood at 460.24 million in the month of July.
The total number of telephone connections in the country increased to 1,189.17 million in August, an addition of 9.73 million over the month of July. Out of this, the connections for wireline phone remained almost constant, whereas the wireless connections jumped 0.84 per cent month-on-month to nearly 1,167 million, according to the data.
Region-wise, the maximum growth in overall telephone connections was recorded in Mumbai with 19,35,854 connections. It was followed by Bihar with 10,26,007 connections and Madhya Pradesh (9,61,251). On the other hand, Jammu & Kashmir witnessed a decline in telephone connections in August over the previous month, with a drop of 1,72,445 connections.
Wireless segment dominates
The share of wireless segment in overall connections was 98.13 per cent by the end of August and wireline telephones share is only 1.87 per cent.
The share of public sector firms in overall telephone connections was stood at 11.12 per cent as of August 2018, with private sector companies accounting for 88.88 per cent share.
In addition, area-wise analysis of telecom services showed that Uttar Pradesh (East) region has the maximum share in overall telephones with 8.62 per cent. It was followed by Maharashtra with 8.12 per cent share, Andhra Pradesh with 7.4 per cent share, Bihar with 7.38 per cent share and Tamil Nadu 7.05 per cent share in total telephones.
These five areas of telecom service taken together accounted for 38.57 per cent in the overall telephone connections in the country.
