The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday released the Telecom Subscription Data as of March 31, 2020 that highlighted that the wireline broadband subscriber base in India touched 19.18 million. According to the TRAI data for the month of February, India registered a wireline broadband subscriber base of 19.07 million. The data highlights that the wireline broadband operators in India added over 100,000 users in March despite the COVID-19 lockdown that was enforced since March 24. It has to be noted that India registered a decline in the wireline broadband subscriber base in the prior three month period. While India had registered a wireline broadband subscriber base of 19.14 million in December, the number dipped to 19.08 million in January and to 19.07 million in February.
BSNL Continues to Lose Wireline Broadband Subscribers
The Trai data released on Tuesday highlights that the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) registered a subscriber base of 8.08 million in March. The operator in February had a registered subscriber base of 8.11 million. In the previous months, BSNL recorded a customer base of 8.39 million in December, 2019 with the number dipping to 8.23 million in January. The data highlights that BSNL has now lost over 300,000 users since December 2019. Despite the drop in the subscriber base, the operator continues its position as the top fixed broadband service provider in India. Bharti Airtel has continued to occupy its position as the second largest provider in India with a subscriber base of 2.47 million as of March 31. In the previous month, the operator had registered a wireline subscriber base of 2.45 million. Similarly, Atria Convergence Technologies has retained its position as the third largest wireline broadband service provider in India with a subscriber base of 1.61 million as of March 31. The operator had registered a wireline subscriber base of 1.56 million in February indicating that ACT Fibernet has added over 50,000 users in one month.
Hathway and Reliance Jio Add Over 30,000 Users in March
Further, the Trai data highlights that Hathway Cable and Datacom had a registered subscriber base of 0.97 million as of March 31. In the previous month, the operator had recorded a wireline subscriber base of 0.94 million. Reliance Jio through its JioFiber service retained its position as the fifth largest service provider in India with a subscriber base of 0.87 million in March. The operator in the previous month had a registered wireline subscriber base of 0.84 million.
