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India's Telecom Sector Sees Wireline and M2M Growth amid Wireless Decline

M2M

Business Honor
19 Febuary, 2025

India’s telecom sector showed a decline in wireless subscriptions, while wireline and M2M connections grew.

According to recent data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), landline and M2M (Machine-to-Machine) connections increased while wireless subscriptions declined.

By the end of October, there were 1,150.42 million wireless users in India, a 0.29% decrease from the 1,153.72 million in September. There were decreases in both rural and urban areas. The number of rural wireless subscribers dropped from 525.60 million to 524.86 million, while the number of urban subscribers dropped from 628.12 million to 625.56 million. India's total wireless tele-density fell from 82.07% to 81.77% accordingly.

With 91.78% market share, private telecoms were still dominant in the wireless industry, and only state-owned BSNL and MTNL accounted for 8.22%. Wireless subscriptions declined in most circles, but some, such as Mumbai and Karnataka, reported increases.

Wireline subscriptions grew faster than wireless ones. In September and October, the total wireline subscriber base grew 0.31%, from 37.78 million to 37.79 million. The fact that the demand for fixed lines is being maintained is indicated by this increase.

Also, the M2M connections grew from 54.64 million to 56.12 million. Bharti Airtel led the market with 29.08 million connections and a 51.82% market share. The requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) also grew; in October, 13.45 million requests were processed. Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh-East were the top two states with the highest MNP requests.