India’s broadband subscriber base rose 0.64 percent month-on-month to 1,094.48 million in July, while the overall telephone subscriber base grew 0.46 percent to 1,354.28 million, indicating continued expansion in broadband and telecom connections, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) yesterday.

The broadband base increased from 1,087.50 million in June, with fixed wired access subscribers rising 0.90 percent to 48.14 million and fixed wireless access subscribers growing 2.60 percent to 18.84 million, according to data put out by TRAI yesterday.

Mobile wireless broadband subscribers increased 0.59 percent to 1,027.50 million. Reliance Jio led the broadband market with 535.12 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel at 384.23 million and Vodafone Idea at 129.96 million.

The top five providers together accounted for 98.59 percent of the broadband market.

The total telephone subscriber base rose by 6.20 million during July, from 1,348.08 million to 1,354.28 million. Wireless subscribers, comprising mobile and fixed wireless access connections, increased by 6.02 million to 1,306.27 million, while wireline connections rose by 0.19 million to 48.01 million.

Overall tele-density increased to 94.68 percent from 94.31 percent in June.

Urban telephone subscriptions increased by 4.62 million to 796.68 million, while rural subscriptions rose by 1.58 million to 557.59 million.

Urban and rural telephone subscriptions grew 0.58 percent and 0.28 percent, respectively, during the month.

The urban share of the total telephone subscriber base stood at 58.83 percent, compared with 41.17 percent for rural areas.

Wireless mobile subscribers increased 0.43 percent to 1,287.92 million in July, with urban connections rising to 743.65 million and rural connections to 544.27 million.

Mobile tele-density rose to 90.04 percent. Private operators accounted for 92.75 percent of the wireless mobile market, while BSNL and MTNL together held 7.25 percent.

TRAI said all licensed service areas except Kolkata recorded growth in wireless mobile subscribers during July.

Fixed wireless access also continued to expand, with 5G FWA subscribers rising from 12.94 million in June to 13.21 million in July. Rural subscribers at 6.64 million marginally outnumbered urban subscribers at 6.56 million.

M2M cellular mobile connections increased to 137.70 million from 134.73 million.

Separately, 15.98 million subscribers sought mobile number portability during July, including 8.89 million requests in Zone-I and 7.09 million in Zone-II.