Tele Tale: South and west Indians love to say hello

When it comes to telecom connectivity, southern and western India boast of a higher tele-density, both amongst the rural and urban segments, when compared to the rest of the country.

As per data compiled by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the tele-density of all southern and western states "" Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat "" are distinctly higher than the national average of 9.37 per cent.

Additionally, against popular perception, it is not the Northeast, Kashmir or the Andamans that have the lowest connectivity in the country. The last in the list are Chhattisgarh (1.90), Jharkhand (2.34), Bihar (2.58) and West Bengal (3.26).

The bridge between connectivity in urban and rural areas continues to widen. Against an urban tele-density of 28.25 per cent, the corresponding figure for rural India is a mere 1.74 per cent.

DoT's data also reveal that while urban tele-density registered close to two per cent growth over the last 12 months, for rural areas it has remained stagnant over the last three years.

Also, the rural tele-density of states such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is less than 0.70 per cent. These states, along with Assam and Jammu and Kashmir, have also been categorised by the DoT, as 'poor tele-density states'.

According to DoT officials, a study conducted by the National Council of Applied Research in the 2647 Short Distance Calling Areas in the country, revealed that 1,685 of these SDCAs were net cost positive.

"These 1,685 SDCAs, where the cost of providing the service is more than the revenue generated, are in Bihar, UP, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and the Northeast. An analysis of these states show that a combination of factors like lower rural income per capita, state domestic product per capita and poor rural literacy rates have led to low telecom penetration," said a DoT official.

Among the Metros, Delhi is at the top with 52.09, followed by Chennai at 48.03 and Mumbai at 45.81. Despite its status as a metro, Kolkata's is at 25.09, lower than India's overall average of 28.25.

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TAKING A CALL

TELE-DENSITY of all southern and western states are higher than the national average of 9.37%

CHHATTISGARH (1.90), Jharkhand (2.34), Bihar (2.58) and West Bengal (3.26) have the lowest connectivity

AGAINST an urban tele-density of 28.25%, the corresponding figure for rural India is a mere 1.74%