According to a TRAI release, the total number of telephone connections (both fixed and mobile) in India stood at 343.87 million at the end of August 2008, corresponding to a tele-density of 29.83%. This includes 305.24 million wireless subscribers and 38.63 million wireline subscribers. The total broadband subscriber base reached 4.73 million by the end of August. A whopping 9.16 million subscribers were added in August 2008 although it declined relatively to the 9.22 million subscribers added in July 2008.
In comparison, China had 616.02 million wireless subscribers as of August 2008 according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This accounts for 45.6% of the total population.
