Over 7.58 lakh Mumbaikars have surrendered their landline connection and the cash-strapped Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) may be in decline but it added 3.25 lakh new subscribers in the last nine years, revealed a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought information from MTNL, Mumbai on the number of landline subscribers, number of surrenders and number of new connections in the last 10 years.
MTNL’s reply revealed that during 2013-14 to November 30, 2021, a total of 7,58,929 customers surrendered their landline.
In 2020-2021 alone, 1,16,233 customers have surrendered their landlines.
The reply said, "3,25,320 new customers were added during the same period and the state-run telecom has 14,75,547 customers presently."
It added only 3,998 new customers in 2020-2021 and 2,535 in 2021-2022.