India - Telecommunications Infrastructure - National

Synopsis

India has a huge national telecommunications network, with 38 million working fixed-line connections by end-2008 (and another 10 million or so fixed wireless services but these are counted as ‘wireless’ services rather than fixed services). With less than 4% fixed-line penetration, the country has nevertheless achieved a remarkable coverage, 98% of the population having access to a telephone. Despite the heavy investment in telecoms infrastructure over the last decade, servicing the huge population has presented difficulties. Even the booming mobile phone market had only around 30% penetration early in 2009. This report provides an update on telecoms infrastructure in India, as the government pushes forward on a number of fronts to speed up roll-out of infrastructure.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
  
• 2. National infrastructure
  
  • 2.1 Overview
    
  • 2.2 Network development
    
  • 2.3 National network
    
  • 2.4 Infrastructure sharing
    
  • 2.5 Rural and regional networks
    
    • 2.5.1 Village Public Telephones (VPTs)
      
    • 2.5.2 Public Call Offices (PCOs)
      
  • 2.6 Fibre optic cable projects
    
  • 2.7 Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
    
• 3. Infrastructure developments
  
  • 3.1 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
    
  • 3.2 IP networks
    
  • 3.3 Next Generation Networks (NGN)
    
• 4. Related reports
  

• Table 1 – Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity – 1995 - 2005
• Table 2 – Fixed-line subscribers and teledensity – 2005 - 2009
• Table 3 – Growth of VPT scheme – 2001 - 2008
• Table 4 – PCOs in operation and market share by operator – 2008
• Table 5 – Fixed WLL subscribers – 2004 - 2006