(a) whether the number of mobile phone subscribers has increased speedily in the country in the last three years;
(b) if so, the details thereof during each of the last three years and in the current year alongwith the growth rate,
State-wise and year-wise; and
(c) the steps taken to ensure quality transmission in mobile service connections?
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY(SHRI A. RAJA)
(a) to (c) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 555 FOR
05TH MAY 2008 REGARDING INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF MOBILE PHONE SUBSCRIBERS
(a) Yes, Sir. The total mobile subscriber base has increased from 56.88 million in March 2005 to 261.08 million in
March 2008.
(b) The details of mobile phone subscriber base during the last three years and the current year alongwith the growth
rate, State-wise, year-wise are given in Annexure.
(c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of mobile service providers against the
quality of service benchmarks notified in the Regulations issued by TRAI, through quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports
obtained from telecom operators. TRAI also monitors the congestion at the point of interconnection (POI) through monthly
congestion report. The telecom service providers are making efforts to improve the quality by continuously augmenting their
mobile network infrastructure and optimizing the same to meet the specified standards set by TRAI.