7 January 2006
Business
Tele-density rose 11% in Dec: Trai
- By CRISIL MarketWire
New Delhi, Jan. 6: Telecom and broadcasting regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday said India's teledensity stood at 11.43 per cent as on December 31.
This is a sharp rise from 11 on November 30. Over 30 million subscribers (fixed and mobile) were added in 2005, taking the total number of subscribers in the country to around 125 million, a Trai statement said.
The total Internet subscriber base achieved the Broadband Policy target of 6 million, while the broadband target itself fell short, Trai said.
The subscriber base for telephony services accelerated its growth pattern in December, when a record 4.92 million subscribers were added as compared to 3.79 million subscribers in November. With the ongoing upward trend, total 31.97 million subscribers were added during 2005, Trai said.
For mobile segment, 4.46 million subscribers were added during December as compared to 3.51 million in the previous month.
The mobile additions comprised 3.19 million global system for mobile communications (GSM) subscribers and 1.27 million coded division multiple access (CDMA) users as against 2.33 million GSM and 1.18 million CDMA in November.
During 2005, about 27.91 million mobile subscribers were added, taking the total to 75.92 million mobile subscribers at the end of the year, the release said. India em-erged as the country with the lowest broadband tariff rates with monthly charges of $5 for a broadband connection against $40 in the U.S. (country with highest charges) and $25 in Korea.