Wireline telecom subscriber base dips 0.5 pc in June

The number of wireline telecom subscribers in the country shrunk to 21.17 million in June, about 0.56 per cent lower than the previous month, according to data from telecom regulator Trai.

"Net decline in the wireline subscriber base was 0.12 million (in June) with a monthly decline rate of 0.56 per cent," the data, released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recently, showed.

The share of urban and rural subscribers in the total wireline base stood at 86.51 per cent and 13.49 per cent, respectively, at the end of June 2019.

"Wireline subscribers further declined from 21.29 million at the end of May 2019 to 21.17 million at the end of June 2019," Trai said.

The overall wireline teledensity slipped to 1.61 per cent at the end of June, from 1.62 per cent in the previous month.

Urban and rural wireline teledensities were 4.36 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively, during the period in reference.

Cash-strapped telecom PSUs, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) held 65.23 per cent of the wireline market share as on June 30.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, the operators that saw subscriber churn for mobile services, together added nearly 49,451 wireline users during the month.

Bharti Airtel added 36,894 subscribers in the wireline category, while Vodafone Idea garnered 12,557 users. The wireline subscriber base of Airtel stood at 42.9 lakh in June, and that of Vodafone Idea at 3.63 lakh.

Airtel has wireline services -- voice calls and broadband -- for both retail and enterprise segment, while Vodafone Idea offerings are targeted at the enterprise space.

BSNL, meanwhile, lost 1.47 lakh wireline subscribers in June, pulling down its base to 1.05 crore.