The total number of wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & LTE) in India actually dipped slightly in July, from 1,186.84 million at the end of Jun-17 to 1,186.79 million at the end of Jul-17, according to the latest figures compiled by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) . The dip, which represents a monthly growth rate of -0.004%, was driven by the loss of about two million wireless subscriptions in rural areas. India’s urban centres continued to gain subscribers during July.
The highly unusual decline in mobile subscriptions comes after an extended period of rapid growth for mobile networks in India. Although one month is too short of a period to draw any hard conclusions about the future growth in mobile subscriptions for the nation, we know that the dip coincides with economic turmoil brought about by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s currency and tax reforms among other factors. India’s macro economic indicators have been pointing down for a while, penetration rates have reached saturation levels in many markets, and the disruptive entrance of Reliance Jio perhaps are all taking a toll on the telecoms sector.
TRAI reports that the wireless tele-density(%) in India declined from 92.12 at the end of Jun-17 to 92.03 at the end of Jul-17. The urban wireless tele-density increased from 167.97 at the end of Jun-17 to 168.21 at the end of Jul-17, however rural wireless tele-density declined from 57.31 to 57.04 during the same period.
Wireline subscribers declined from 24.00 million at the end of Jun-17 to 23.92 million at the end of Jul-17, representing a decrease of 0.08 million lines.
