Number of telephones at 1166.84 million at the end of March 2022

The number of telephones stood at 1166.84 million at the end of March 2022, up by 0.79 million from 1166.05 million at the end of February 2022. Rajasthan saw the maximum increase in total telephone connections followed by Bihar and Gujarat. Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Kerala saw a fall in telephone connections over the previous month.

Uttar Pradesh (East) continues to have the highest share of the total telephones followed by Maharashtra, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. These five service areas account for 38.38% of total telephone connections in India. The wireless segment holds a share of 97.87% in total connections at the end of March 2022 with the rest 2.13% share with the wireline segment.

The public sector holds a share of 10.89% of total telephones at the end of March 2022 with the rest 89.11% share held by the private sector. The rural areas account for 44.53% of total telephones at the end of March 2022 whereas the urban areas account for 55.47%.

The overall teledensity stood at 84.87% at the end of March 2022 with Himachal Pradesh having the highest teledensity followed by Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Delhi topped in teledensity among the three metros followed by Kolkata and Mumbai.

The teledensity of the wireless segment stood at 83.07% whereas that of the wireline segment stood at 1.81%. The teledensity in rural areas stood at 57.98% while that of urban areas stood at 135.23%. The teledenstiy in public sector stood at 9.25% while that of private sector stood at 75.63%.

The number of internet subscribers (both broadband and narrowband) stood at 829.3 million at the end of December 2021. The number of wireless internet users stood at 802.72 million whereas that of wireline internet users stood at 26.58 million. The number of broadband users stood at 788.3 million at the end of March 2022.