GSM adds 8 mn subscribers in October

NEW DELHI, INDIA: GSM operators, led by Bharti Airtel, have reported an estimated addition of eight million subscribers in October, a record number.

GSM industry constitutes over 80 per cent of the total mobile users in the country.

According to COAI, the GSM operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, BSNL, Idea, MTNL and others added 7.7 million subscribers (without including RTL whose figures are not yet available) and an estimated total of eight million when all figures come in.

T V Ramachandran, director general, COAI, said: "With the cumulative GSM subscribers already at an estimated 242 million, it is clear that the GSM sector would by itself cross the historic 250 million milestone by December 2008."

At the end of the month, Bharti Airtel continues to maintain its leadership position with a subscriber base of 80.19 million and market share of 33.23 per cent adding 2.72 million user.

It is followed by Vodafone that has 56.7 million users and market share of 23.49 per cent. Vodafone added two million new subscribers.

State-run  BSNL continued its snail journey with subscriber base still hovering under the 40 million mark. BSNL has added 0.6 million new users in the month.

Source: PTI