India's tele-density reached 84.69% in September: TRAI

The overall Tele-density in the country increased from 84.69 per cent at the end of August 2023 to 84.76 per cent at the end of September 2023, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

 The Urban Tele-density decreased from 133.55 per cent at the end of August 2023 to 133.54 per cent at the end of September 2023. However, rural tele-density increased from 57.97 per cent to 58.05 per cent during the same period. 

The share of urban and rural subscribers in total number of telephone subscribers at the end of September 2023 was 55.75 per cent and 44.25 per cent respectively.

As per the TRAI data, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group’s telecom arm Jio added almost 35 lakh new users in September this year, emerging as the top telecom provider in India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data has revealed. The user base for Akash Ambani-led Jio network, which forayed into the domestic telecom market almost a decade back, now stands at 44.92 crores.

Staggering by almost half the margin in terms of growth, Bharti Airtel’s wireless subscriber tally rose by 13.2 lakh in August 2023 to 37.77 crore in September 2023, as per latest TRAI data. India’s third-largest telecom operator in terms of subscriber base, Vodafone India (VI), which was formed after the merger between British network Vodafone and Aditya Birla-owned Idea in 2018, has lost almost 8 lakh subscribers, with their user base at 22.75 crore. 

Notably, the Government of India is VI's largest shareholder with a 33.1 per cent stake after converting the telco's hundreds of crores worth debt into equity in February this year.