1.7 crore Indians gave up mobile subscriptions during lockdown: Report

At least 1.7 crore Indians gave up mobile subscriptions during the nationwide lockdown between April and June in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by The Times of India quoting TRAI data.

The number of wireless (mobile) subscribers in India shrank by 1.7 crore to 114 crore during the lockdown and it was yet to reach the pre-April level even by the end of August.

According to the report, a major chunk of decline in subscriptions in the June quarter was due to a dip in the number of urban subscribers.

“The major factor was the return of migrant workers to their hometowns and villages, a lot of them stopped recharging their mobiles. Also, the lockdown had an impact on many low-income group families whose mobile usage dipped resulting in a decline in subscription. However, I think that things would improve from September onwards as things get back to normal,” Neil Shah, vice president (research), Counterpoint Research, told the publication.

The data shows that wireless teledensity in the country during the period decreased to 84.38 at the end of June from 85.87 at the end of March. Wireless teledensity is the number of connections per 100 people.

The number of subscribers in July and August marginally increased to 114.4 and 114.7 crore but it was still lower than pre-April levels.