Telecom subscribers cross 205 mn mark

India's total telecom subscriber base has reached over 205-million mark at the end March, a growth of 8.39 per cent as compared to the figure on December 31, 2006.

The blended Average Revenue Per User per month for GSM services in the country has declined by 5.69 per cent from Rs 316 in the quarter ending December 2006 to Rs 298 in the three-month period ending in March.

For CDMA services, it increased to Rs 202 as against Rs 196, registering a growth of 3.06 per cent, according to TRAI's Quarterly Performance Indicators of Telecom Services for the quarter ending March.

The teledensity reached 18.23, compared to 17.16 at the end of the previous quarter.

The subscriber base for wireless services has increased from 149.62 million to 165.11 million and that of wireline service from 40.30 million to 40.75 million.

The internet subscribers base reached 92.71 lakh at the end of March 2007, registering a growth of 8.03 per cent, whereas broadband subscriber base reached 23.39 lakh in the same quarter, a growth of 13.85 per cent.

The number of Public Call Offices (PCO) in the country increased from 5.30 million to 5.55 million at a growth rate of 4.72 per cent while the number of Village Public Telephones (VPT) rose to 5.64 lakh from 5.57 lakh, an increase of 1.26 per cent.