India's teledensity touched 6.48 per cent during the quarter ended September 2003, triggering the hope that the targeted teledensity of seven per cent would be achieved in the current quarterly period of October to December -- almost 15 months ahead of schedule.

The gross subscriber base of basic and cellular services combined reached 64.77 million at the end of the quarter ended September 2003 from 58.70 million as on June, showing an overall increase of about 9.37 per cent.

While fixed line phone connections showed negligible growth, mobile subscribes registered a 33 per cent growth during the quarter ended September 2003 to touch 23 million, according to Trai.

However, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd have lost 6 per cent market share to private basic operators during the quarter ended September 2003. While BSNL's market share dipped 5 per cent, MTNL lost one per cent.

According to a report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the average revenue per user for cellular operators dipped from Rs 522 to Rs 510, though there was an increase in average minutes of use from 266 to 298.

"This trend appears to emerge due to a gradual decrease in tariff for cellular services and increase in usage," said the quarterly performance report by Trai.

The Internet subscriber base was up 5.5 per cent during the quarter. However, Internet telephony lost some of its popularity due to a decrease in the tariffs of ISD calls.

Internet telephony use slumped to 14.2 million minutes against 16.9 million minutes during the previous quarter.