Lockdown Shrinks Telecom Sector, Urban Teledensity Records Huge Decline
India’s telecom sector is going through the most challenging phase ever. Once a dozen companies were active in this sector, but now largely only three companies are left Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone. Other government companies are BSNL and MTNL which are already in trouble. Now understand from the figures how the recent lockdown has broken the back of this sector.
According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), as of March 2020, there were a total of 117.79 crore subscribers in the country, which has come down to 116.78 crore subscribers in August 2020.
According to TRAI, in March 2020, teledensity was 87.37% which came down to 86.23% by the end of August 2020. Teledensity is the number of telephone connections per 100 people within a geographical area. There has been a further decline in teledensity in cities. Statistics show that where urban teledensity was 142.1% in March 2020, by August this year, it further reduced to 138.17% However, there has been a slight increase in rural areas. For instance, where rural teledensity was 58.79% in March 2020, it has increased to 59.06% in August 2020. TRAI data also show that in eight states of the country, teledensity is below the national average of 86.23%. For instance, in Bihar, teledensity is only 52.62%, Uttar Pradesh (66.93%) and in Madhya Pradesh (67.07%), while in Delhi, the capital, teledensity is 272.09%. This difference shows the inequality of resources and money in the country. Note March was the month when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown in its last week, after which all kinds of economic activities in the country came to a standstill. These figures clearly show that the telecom sector is shrinking in the country where the telecom revolution took place a few years ago. Vodafone and Airtel, both these companies have already said that if the government does not take steps to revive the telecom sector soon, then they will have to shut shop. Both companies owe a heavy debt and government money.
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According to TRAI, in March 2020, teledensity was 87.37% which came down to 86.23% by the end of August 2020. Teledensity is the number of telephone connections per 100 people within a geographical area. There has been a further decline in teledensity in cities. Statistics show that where urban teledensity was 142.1% in March 2020, by August this year, it further reduced to 138.17% However, there has been a slight increase in rural areas. For instance, where rural teledensity was 58.79% in March 2020, it has increased to 59.06% in August 2020. TRAI data also show that in eight states of the country, teledensity is below the national average of 86.23%. For instance, in Bihar, teledensity is only 52.62%, Uttar Pradesh (66.93%) and in Madhya Pradesh (67.07%), while in Delhi, the capital, teledensity is 272.09%. This difference shows the inequality of resources and money in the country. Note March was the month when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown in its last week, after which all kinds of economic activities in the country came to a standstill. These figures clearly show that the telecom sector is shrinking in the country where the telecom revolution took place a few years ago. Vodafone and Airtel, both these companies have already said that if the government does not take steps to revive the telecom sector soon, then they will have to shut shop. Both companies owe a heavy debt and government money.
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