The number of total phones in the country saw a steady increase from 1179.38 million in January 2021 to 1187.73 million at the end of February 2021 as per the monthly telecom scenario data released by DoT. The increase in total telephones came on the back of wireless phones increasing from 1159.30 million to 1167.54 million. Rural areas accounted for an increase of 2 million phones while Urban areas accounted for an increase of 6 million phones.
The new phones came up on private networks with public networks withnessing a decline in the number of total phones. The wireless phones percentage to total phones was 98.3% whereas the same for wireline phones was 1.7%. The rural phones percentage to total phones was 44.61% whereas the same for urban phones was 55.39%. The public phones percentage to total phones was 11.06% whereas the same for private phones was 88.94%.
“At the end of February’21, the total number of telephones was 1187.73 million, compared to 1179.38 million by the end of January’21, showing an increase of 8.35 million. Maximum rise in total telephone connections was recorded in Mumbai (1692955) followed by Punjab (746719) and Maharashtra (708339). However, Bihar& Himachal Pradesh recorded a fall in telephone connections over previous month, with a decrease of 105735 & 28197 respectively.”
DoT
The wireline teledensity stood at 1.48% whereas wireless teledensity stood at 85.76%. The rural teledensity was 59.38% while urban teledensity was 140.25%. The public teledensity was 9.65% while private teledensity was 77.6%.
