TRAI has issued its performance indicator report for the quarter ended December 2004. The report indicates that the gross subscriber base of fixed and mobile services reached 92.88 million at the end of the quarter. This represents a 7 per cent growth over the 86.86 million subscribers in September 2004. Of this, mobile subscribers increased from 43 million to 48 million while fixed line subscribers (including WLL-F) increased from 43.87 million to 44.87 million. The average per minute charge for mobile services declined by 58 per cent, from Rs 1.90 to Rs 1.20 per minute during this period. A total of 13,152 village public telephones were added during the quarter while the number of PCOs increased to 2.5 million. The internet subscriber base increased by 6 per cent over the previous quarter, from 5.14 million to 5.45 million. At the same time, the number of broadband subscribers reached 46,638 while the number of always-on high speed internet users reached 654,000. Internet telephony also picked up, with a usage of 43 million minutes in the quarter ended December 2004.
