Indian wireless subscriptions slide 4.6%

According to the most recent report from sector watchdog the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India’s wireless subscriber base fell by 4.62% in the three months to 31 December 2012 to 864.72 million users. Of that total, 533.12 million were urban subscribers, compared to 331.60 million rural. Fixed line telephony subscriptions meanwhile fell by 0.95% quarter-on-quarter to 30.79 million active lines in service, of which 23.84 million were in urban areas and the remaining 6.95 million were rural, equating to teledensity of 6.42%/0.82% (urban/rural). Broadband subscriptions totalled 14.98 million at that date, whilst total internet subscriptions grew by 5.49% q-o-q to 25.33 million. Gross revenues from the sector stood at INR528.584 billion (USD9.797 billion) for the period, down 0.15% from the previous quarter.