JOIN USDespite sharp 20.7 million fall in telecom subscriber base last month, the first time since the mobile revolution in 1997, the industry is expected to touch 1,042 million users by the fiscal-end, CMIE has said.
“The total subscriber base is expected to reach 1,042 million by March 2013,” Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said in its report. The telecom subscriber base fell to 944.81 million in August from 965.52 million in August, according to Trai data.
However, new wireless subscribers for the fiscal are likely to decline by nearly 14 per cent, CMIE said. “Wireless service providers are expected to add 92.7 million new subscribers this fiscal, significantly lower than 107.6 million they added in FY12,” it said.
It observed implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) scheme as one of the reasons for declining new subscriber additions.
“The total MNP requests at the end of June 2012 stood at 54.3 million. We expect the number of subscribers opting for MNP to rise further in the coming months.
This in turn would impact new subscriber additions,” it said, adding that new additions are more likely in the hinterlands.
“While urban areas are over penetrated with tele-density of 169 per cent, in rural areas it is just 40.6 per cent.