Telephone subscribers rise to 118.34 crore, broadband subscribers up 1.3% in January: TRAI

TRAI said the number of telephone subscribers have increased from 117.38 crore at end of December 2020 to 118.34 crore at end of January 2021.

Indians are increasingly becoming conscious of the quality of telecom services, with data by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showing that 55.2 crore requests were filed for mobile number portability (MNP) in the last 10 years. TRAI said the number of telephone subscribers have increased from 117.38 crore at end of December 2020 to 118.34 crore at end of January 2021. The number of broadband subscribers also increased from 74.74 crore in December-end to 75.76 crore in January-end, marking a growth rate of 1.36 per cent. However, the growth story has a worrying subtext. Public sector undertakings or PSUs are losing ground even in the landline category besides trailing in wireless category. Reliance Jio now controls 35.3% of the mobile market, and 54.5% of broadband subscriber base.