TRAI releases subscriber data-Oct 2021

In the month of October, 2021, 7.29 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). With this, the cumulative MNP requests increased from 638.25 million at the end of September-21 to 645.54 million at the end of October-21, since implementation of MNP.

Number of active wireless subscribers (on the date of peak VLR#) in October, 2021 was 996.47 million.

Total Telephone Subscribers
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,189.15 million at the end of September-21 to 1,189.62 million at the end of October-21, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.04%. Urban telephone subscription decreased from 659.09 million at the end of September-21 to 658.83 million at the end of October-21, however the rural subscription increased from 530.06 million to 530.79 million during the same period. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were -0.04% and 0.14% respectively during the month of October-21.

Wireless subscriber
Total wireless subscribers increased from 1,166.02 million at the end of September-21 to 1,166.30 million at the end of October-21, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.02%. Wireless subscription in urban areas decreased from 637.89 million at the end of September-21 to 637.44 million at the end of October-21, however wireless subscription in rural areas increased from 528.13 million to 528.86 million during the same period. Monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscription were -0.07% and 0.14% respectively.

Active Wireless Subscribers (VLR Data)
Out of the total wireless subscribers (1,166.30 million), 996.47 million wireless subscribers were active on the date of peak VLR in the month of October-21. The proportion of active wireless subscribers was approximately 85.44% of the total wireless subscriber base.

The detailed statistics on proportion of active wireless subscribers (also referred to as VLR subscribers) on the date of peak VLR in the month of October-21 is available at Annexure-II and the methodology used for reporting VLR subscribers is available at Annexure-IV.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
Intra-service area Mobile number portability (MNP) was implemented first in Haryana service area w.e.f. 25.11.2010 and in the rest of the country w.e.f. 20.01.2011. Inter-Service Area MNP has been implemented in the country w.e.f. 03.07.2015. Now, the wireless telephone subscribers can retain their mobile numbers when they relocate from one service area to another.

During the month of October-21, a total of 7.29 million requests were received for MNP. Out of total 7.29 million new requests, 4.20 million requests received from Zone-I and 3.09 million requests received from Zone-II. The cumulative MNP requests increased from 638.25 million at the end of September-21 to 645.54 million at the end of October-21, since the implementation of MNP.

In MNP Zone-I (Northern and Western India), the highest number of requests till date have been received in Maharashtra (about 53.36 million) followed by Uttar Pradesh-East (about 47.24 million) service area.

In MNP Zone-II (Southern and Eastern India), the highest number of requests till date have been received in Karnataka (about 50.89 million) followed by Andhra Pradesh (about 49.12 million).

Wireline Subscribers
Wireline subscribers increased from 23.13 million at the end of September-21 to 23.32 million at the end of October-21. Net increase in the wireline subscriber base was 0.19 million with a monthly growth rate of 0.82%. The share of urban and rural subscribers in total wireline subscribers were 91.72% and 8.28% respectively at the end of October, 2021.

The Overall Wireline Tele-density in India, increased from 1.69% at the end of September-21 to 1.70% at the end of October-21. Urban and Rural Wireline Tele-density were 4.50% and 0.22% respectively during the same period.

BSNL and MTNL, the two PSU access service providers, held 45.07% of the wireline market share as on 31st October, 2021. Detailed statistics of wireline subscriber base are available at Annexure-III.

Broadband (≥ 512 Kbps download)
As per the information received from 577 operators in October 2021 in comparison to 522 Operator in September 2021, the total Broadband Subscribers increased from 794.88 million at the end of September-21 to 798.95 million at the end of October-21 with a monthly increase rate of 0.51%