The Hindu : National : Number of telephones close to 10-crore mark

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005

National

National

Number of telephones close to 10-crore mark

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 8. The telecom sector, with private players vying with each other to get a larger slice of the cake, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the ongoing reforms ever since the liberalisation process began in the country. And now, the numbers speak for themselves.

The total number of telephones in the country, as at the end of December 2004, is close to touching the 10-crore mark. With the actual numbers at 9.29 crore till last year, India's tele-density has risen from seven per cent in March 2004 to 8.59 per cent in December that year.

This, according to a Ministry of Communications statement here, has been possible owing to the addition of 164 lakh telephones during the April-December period of the current fiscal. Of these, more than 23 lakh phones were provided to customers in December alone.

Clearly, mobile phones are now a rage, in marked preference to the fixed line connections. This is apparent from the fact that nearly 87 per cent of the additional phones provided during the current financial year are accounted for by mobile connections.

The total number of mobile phones, including those with wireless in local loop (WLL), is over 4.80 crore, as on December 31 last year. What is significant is the role played by the private sector as these players have accounted for 77 per cent of the expansion during these nine months.

Taking the fixed line and mobile phones together, the private players have so far provided 426.44 lakh phones till December 31, 2004, which is about 46 per cent of the total number of phones in the country.

For village telephony, however, it is the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) that has provided direct exchange lines and VPTs (village public telephones). It has provided 7.65 lakh telephones during the current fiscal compared to 4.73 lakh phones supplied during April-December 2003. During the nine-month period, BSNL provided 3,138 VPTs.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National