With people discontinuing mobile connections and service issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic,rural Gujaratsaw a reduction of some 3.3 lakh telecom subscribers in the April to June quarter this year. The latest performance indicator report of the (TRAI), suggests that rural telecom subscribers inGujaratfell from 2.788 crore to 2.755 crore from the January-March quarter to the April-June quarter.
Telecom operators said many connections expired and could not be renewed due to Covid-19 restrictions imposed due to the second wave of Covid-19 cases in April and May.
The trend, according to TRAI, was similar across the country. Rural telephone subscribers decreased from 53.74 crore at the end of March 2021 to 53.64 crore at the end of June 2021. Rural tele-density also decreased from 60.27% to 60.10% in this period, states the performance indicator report.