AHMEDABAD: With people shutting down mobile connections and service issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rural Gujarat The April-June quarter this year saw a shortfall of some 3.3 lakh telecom subscribers. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) latest performance indicators report shows that rural telecom subscribers Gujarat From January-March quarter to April-June quarter fell from 2.788 crores to 2.755 crores.
Telecom operators said many connections ended and could not be renewed due to the Covid-19 restrictions imposed due to the second wave of Covid-19 cases in April and May.
“People in rural areas look for cost-effective schemes and switch more often than in urban areas. The reduction in the total number of subscribers includes SIM cards that were not used or were not renewed and their connections were disconnected,” said a source in the telecom sector.
Sources said people with a small number of multiple connections switched off one or more connections to reduce their expenses.
Industry players also blame serviceability constraints for the drop in customer numbers. “The second wave of Covid-19 hit during the April to June quarter. Due to this, shops remained closed for a long time due to restrictions and people did not come out to activate the connection or get new connections. As a result, the total number of connections fell,” said a source.
According to TRAI, the trend was similar across the country. “Rural telephone subscribers declined from 53.74 crore at the end of March 2021 to 53.64 crore at the end of June 2021. Rural tele-density also declined from 60.27% to 60.10% during this period,” the performance indicators report said.
Telecom operators said many connections ended and could not be renewed due to the Covid-19 restrictions imposed due to the second wave of Covid-19 cases in April and May.
“People in rural areas look for cost-effective schemes and switch more often than in urban areas. The reduction in the total number of subscribers includes SIM cards that were not used or were not renewed and their connections were disconnected,” said a source in the telecom sector.
Sources said people with a small number of multiple connections switched off one or more connections to reduce their expenses.
Industry players also blame serviceability constraints for the drop in customer numbers. “The second wave of Covid-19 hit during the April to June quarter. Due to this, shops remained closed for a long time due to restrictions and people did not come out to activate the connection or get new connections. As a result, the total number of connections fell,” said a source.
According to TRAI, the trend was similar across the country. “Rural telephone subscribers declined from 53.74 crore at the end of March 2021 to 53.64 crore at the end of June 2021. Rural tele-density also declined from 60.27% to 60.10% during this period,” the performance indicators report said.
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