According to a report presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the Lok Sabha, the growth rate of subscribers in rural areas during the last five years was higher at 485 per cent compared to 233 per cent in urban areas.
As per the CAG report, rural subscribers have grown from 45.71 million in 2006-2007 to 282.23 million as on March 31, 2011, while the urban user base increased from 160.15 in 2006-2007 to 564.08 million till March 31, 2011.
The overall telephone subscribers in the country increased from 206 million in 2006-2007 to 846 million at the end of March 2011. For the same period, the wireless user base increased by 647 million, the wireline base registered a decline of 6 million.
The teledensity increased from 18 percent in March 2007 to 71 per cent at the end of March 31, 2011. CAG in its report states that the capital investment in the sector increased from Rs 2,407.11 billion in 2006-07 to Rs 4,792.78 billion in 2010-11 while the capital employed also increased from Rs 1,980.11 to Rs 3,376.83 for the same period, indicating a healthy growth in investment in the telecom sector.
The private sector investments in telecom sector increased from Rs 1,061.59 billion in 2006-07 to Rs 2,819.46 billion in 2010-11, while the investments by public sector increased from Rs 1345.52 billion to only Rs 1973.32 billion in the same period. The capital employed by private sector during the period increased from Rs 934.16 billion to Rs 2,486.43 billion. On the other hand, the capital employed by the public sector, declined from Rs 1,045.95 billion to Rs 890.4 billion. This has led to an increase in user base of private companies to 720.33 million in 2011 while the user base of public companies stood at 126 million.
