Search:



The Web

Rediff








Home > Business > PTI > Report

India's tele-density jumps to 7.67%

September 02, 2004 14:29 IST

Boosted by a major contribution from the private mobile telephony sector, India's tele-density touched 7.67 per cent with the addition of over 64 lakh (6.4 million) telephones in the April-July period taking the total number of phones to 8.29 crore (82.9 million).

Over 19 lakh (1.9 million) phones were added during July alone, an official statement said on Thursday.

More than 90 per cent of the additional phones during the current year are accounted for by the mobile phones. The number of mobile phones including WLL(M) as on July end is about 3.95 crore (39.5 million).

Private sector has played a major role by providing almost 85 per cent of the expansion during these four months.

The private sector has so far provided 3.54 crore phones as ended July contributing 43 per cent in the total phones in the country.

However, in the rural areas, only Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has provided additional direct exchange lines and village public telephonys.

As against 54,015 additional telephones provided in rural areas during  April-July 2003, BSNL has provided 1.75 lakh (175,000) telephones during the current year and 972 VPTs. The private sector reportedly has not gone to the rural areas this year.


Article Tools
Email this article
Top emailed links
Print this article
Write us a letter
Discuss this article









© Copyright 2004 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.











Copyright © 2004 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.