Indicating enhanced access to communications across the country, India’s overall tele-density has registered a 1.39 per year-on-year growth in the financial year 2024. As per the latest report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the country’s overall tele-density has gone up from 84.51 per cent at the end of March 2023 to 85.69 per cent at the end of March 2024.
The Indian telecom services yearly performance indicators 2023-24 report by Trai revealed that the tele-density in urban areas has decreased from 133.81 per cent at the end of March 2023 to 133.72 per cent at the end of March 2024, as per the report. The same density in urban areas at the end of March 2021 was 141.03 per cent, which then came down to 139.94 per cent at the end of March 2022.
As far as the rural tele-density is concerned, it increased from 57.71 per cent at the end of March 2023 to 59.19 per cent at the end of March 2024. Even though the density has increased from the last year, it has come down from 60.27 per cent at the end of March 2021, the Trai report revealed.
India’s total telephone subscribers increased from 1,172.34 million at the end of March 2023 to 1,199.28 million at the end of March 2024, reporting a YoY growth of 2.30 per cent. In urban areas, the subscribers went up from 653.71 million on 31 March 2023 to 665.38 million at the end of March 2024.
Rural telephone subscriptions increased to 533.90 million at the end of March 2024 from 518.63 million at the end of March 2023. While the total subscriber base has gone up by 26.94 million in the last financial year, it has declined by 1.92 million as compared with the 1201.20 million at the end of March 2021.
The share of rural telephone subscriptions out of the total such subscriptions has gone up from 44.24 per cent at the end of March 2023 to 44.52 per cent at the end of March 2024, the report highlighted. However, the urban share in such subscriptions has declined to 55.48 per cent at the end of March 2024 from 55.76 per cent at the end of March 2023.