India's telecom subscriber base has expanded with the net addition of 63 lakh subscribers in May, taking the total number of telephone connections to 21.8 crore on a tele-density of 19.25 per cent.While the addition in the GSM and CDMA segments were 50 lakh and 15 lakh respectively, the fixed line segment declined by two lakh, as per the figures released by the Government.Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh circles have added more than 4.5 lakh subscribers each. The total number of telephones in the country is now more than 21.8 crore registering a growth of 46.9 per cent between June 2006-May 2007. The overall teledensity improved further to 19.25 per cent in May.In the GSM segment, Tamil Nadu telecom circle added more than 4.1 lakh subscribers. While in the CDMA segment, Maharashtra telecom circle added 1.49 lakh subscribers during the period.The growth of broadband connections improved and at the end of April, about 23.8 lakh broadband connections were provided and coverage of broadband connectivity by public sector service providers has reached 1039 cities. The total number of existing ISP licencees is now 377.
