You won't believe how many Internet users there officially are in India now

Amid explosive growth in data consumption, India's broadband subscriber numbers touched 463.6 million at the end of August 2018, up 0.74 per over the previous month, according to official data by the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The number of broadband subscribers stood at 460.24 million in July this year.

According to data released by the DoT on its website, the total number of telephones rose to 1,189.17 million, up 9.73 million over the previous month. Of this, wireline phone connections remained almost flat, while the wireless connections climbed 0.84 per cent month-on-month to almost 1,167 million.

"Maximum rise in total telephone connections was recorded in Mumbai (19,35,854) followed by Bihar (10,26,007) and Madhya Pradesh (9,61,251). However, Jammu & Kashmir recorded a fall in telephone connections over previous month, with a decrease of 1,72,445," it said.

The share of wireless segment in total connections stood at 98.13 per cent by the August-end, and wireline telephones at 1.87 per cent.

As on August 2018, the share of public sector companies in total telephone connections was pegged at 11.12 per cent, with private sector accounting for 88.88 per cent share.

Further, area-wise telecom services analysis revealed that that Uttar Pradesh (East) has the highest share in the total telephones (8.62 per cent) followed by Maharashtra (8.12 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (7.40 per cent), Bihar (7.38 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (7.05 per cent), it pointed out.

These five service areas taken together have a share of 38.57 per cent in the total telephone connections in India.

"The number of broadband subscribers was 463.65 million at the end of August 2018 as compared to 460.24 million in July 2018, showing an increase of 0.74 per cent," it said.