Telecom subscriber base touches 24.86 cr in Sept'07

New Delhi, Oct 22 (UNI) The Government today said the total telecom subscribers base in the country has touched more than 2,486.69 lakh, with the addition of 76.52 lakh customers in September 2007, as compared to 1,700 lakh during September 2006.

The GSM segment increased by 59.22 lakh during the said month, the CDMA segment soared by 18.84 lakh while the fixed segment continued to decline with a decrease of 1.54 lakh customers.

The overall teledensity improved further to 21.85 per cent in September 2007 as compared to 15.12 per cent as on September 30, 2006.

In the GSM segment, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat telecom circles added more than five lakh subscribers during September 2007.

In the CDMA segment, Maharashtra circle added more than two lakh subscribers during the period. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh(East) telecom circles have added more than five lakh subscribers each.

The growth of broadband connections improved further and at the end of August 2007, about 25.15 lakh broadband connections were provided and coverage of broadband connectivity by public sector service providers has reached 1,077 cities.

Further, the total number of existing ISP licencees is 372.

Under Bharat Nirman Programme, 686 VPTs were provided in the month of September 2007. Thus, out of the targeted 66,822 villages, a total of 50,520 villages have been provided with VPTs till September 2007.

A total of 3,551 VPTs have been provided in this financial year.

UNI