India’s total mobile phone subscriber base has surpassed the 1 billion milestone in October this year, according to the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The country is now only second to China that has over a billion mobile phone subscribers.
TRAI revealed that India had more than 1.03 billion mobile phone subscribers in October which soared from 996.7 million in September-end. The increase in mobile phone user base is mainly attributed to the advent of affordable and budget smartphones in the Indian market by various national and international smartphone makers. In addition, due to the tough competition among the leading telephone operators there has been a drop in call rates and tariffs as well. TRAI stated that the wireless subscription in urban areas increased from 577.82 million at the end of September-2015 to 578.11 million at the end of October-2015, and wireless subscription in rural areas increased from 418.44 million to 425.38 million during the same period.