India’s total broadband subscriber base increased to 846.57 million at the end of March 2023, showing a monthly growth rate of 0.86 percent, latest set of data released by broadcast and telecom regulator TRAI said yesterday.

In February 2023, the subscribers base was 839.33 million with the top five service providers constituting 98.37 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers as of March-23.

These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm (438.56 million), Bharti Airtel (241.90 million), Vodafone Idea (124.83 million), BSNL (25.37 million) and Atria Convergence (2.14 million), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

As on March 31, the top five wired broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm (8.33 million), Bharti Airtel (6.12 million), BSNL (3.60 million), Atria Convergence Technologies (2.14 million) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (1.12 million).

The top five wireless broadband service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom (430.23 million), Bharti Airtel (235.78 million), Vodafone Idea (124.82 million), BSNL (21.77 million) and Intech Online Pvt. Ltd. (0.23 million).

Wireline subscribers increased from 27.97 million at the end of February-23 to 28.41 million at the end of March-23. Net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.44 million with a monthly growth rate of 1.58 percent. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 92.09 percent and 7.91 percent, respectively at the end of March 2023.

The overall wireline tele-density in India increased from 2.02 percent at the end of February-23 to 2.05 percent at the end of March-23. Urban and rural wireline tele-density were 5.36 percent and 0.25 percent, respectively during the same period.

State-run telcos BSNL and MTNL held 33.15 percent of the wireline market share as of March 2023.

Total wireless subscribers increased from 1,141.96 million at the end of February-23, to 1,143.93 million at the end of March-23, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.17 percent.

Wireless subscription in urban areas increased from to 626.37 million at the end of February-23 to 627.54 million at the end of March-23 and wireless subscription in rural areas also increased from 515.60 million to 516.38 million during the same period.

Monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were 0.19 percent and 0.15 percent, respectively.

As of March 2023, the private access service providers held 90.73 percent market share of the wireless subscribers, whereas BSNL and MTNL, the had a market share of only 9.27 percent.

The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,169.93 million at the end of February-23 to 1,172.84 million at the end of March-23, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.21 percent.

Urban telephone subscriptions increased from 652.16 million at the end of February-23 to 653.71 million at the end of March-23 and the rural subscription also increased from 517.77 million to 518.63 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscriptions were 0.24 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively during the month of March-23.

The overall tele-density in India increased 84.40 percent at the end of February- 23 to 84.51 percent at the end of March-23. The urban tele-density increased from 133.70 percent at the end of February-23 to 133.81 percent at the end of March-23 and rural tele-density also increased from 57.63 percent to 57.71 percent during the same period.

The share of urban and rural subscribers in the total number of telephone subscribers at the end of March-23 was 55.76 percent and 44.24 percent, respectively.