Rural Nagaland accounts for more than half of telephone subscribers

DIMAPUR — Nagaland had 1.65 million telephone (wireline and wireless) subscribers as of March 31, 2023, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Ministry of Communications, on Tuesday. Out of these subscribers, 0.84 million were from rural areas, and 0.81 million were from urban areas.

Also, the state recorded a total tele-density of 73.83% (69.74% in rural areas and 78.64% in urban areas) as of March 31, 2023.

Among the 1.65 million telephone subscribers, 1.63 million were wireless telephone subscribers (0.84 million in rural areas and 0.78 million in urban areas), while 0.02 million subscribers (in urban areas only) were wireline telephone subscribers.

In the country, out of a total of 1,172.34 million telephone subscribers, the number of wireless telephone subscribers was 1,143.93 million, while the number of wireline telephone subscribers was 28.41 million.

The report stated that the total number of internet subscribers in the country increased from 824.29 million at the end of March 2022 to 881.25 million at the end of March 2023, with a yearly growth rate of 6.83%. Out of the total 881.25 million internet subscribers, the number of broadband subscribers was 846.57 million, and the number of narrowband subscribers was 34.69 million.

Furthermore, in the Himachal Pradesh service area, the highest rural tele-density was recorded at 86.31%, followed by the Andhra Pradesh service area with 76.31%. Conversely, the Madhya Pradesh service area had the lowest rural tele-density at 41.76%.

According to the data, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. added the most telephone subscribers (29.18 million) in 2022–23. In terms of net additions, Reliance Jio grew at a 6.49% annual rate in 2022–23.