Indian adds 19mn mobile subscribers in Dec

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Mobile firms in India added a record 19.1 million subscribers in December, taking total users in the world's fastest-growing, and second-largest, wireless market to  525.15 million, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said.

APAC broadband subscribers to hit 182mn

In November, the firms had added 17.65 million users. Mobile subscribers grew at a monthly average of nearly 15 million in 2009 to be 51 percent higher from 346.89 million at end-2008.

Sixth-ranked operator Tata Teleservices, 26 percent owned by Japan's NTT DoCoMo, led additions for the fifth month in a row with 3.34 million new users in December. Following are the additions by mobile operators and their total subscriber base.

LEADING COMPANIES:
COMPANY                                                              ADDITIONS (MLN)             TOTAL USERS (MLN)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research)             2.85                               118.86
Reliance Comm (RLCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research)      2.80                                  93.80
Vodafone Essar (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research)          2.79                                  91.40
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd                                               2.08                                  62.86
Idea Cellular (IDEA.BO: Quote, Profile, Research)           1.70                                  57.61
Tata Teleservices                                                            3.34                                   57.33
Aircel                                                                               1.67                                   31.02

SMALLER PLAYERS:
COMPANY                                                                                            ADDITIONS         TOTAL USERS
(MLN)
--------------------------------------------------------------
MTNL (MTNL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) (MTE.N: Quote, Profile, Research)    56,483         4.88
Sistema Shyam Teleservices                                                               398,403                       3.04
Loop Telecom                                                                                        54,276                       2.65
Unitech Wireless (TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research)                             1,208,130                  1.21
HFCL Infotel                                                                                           -887                          0.34
S Tel BTEL.BH                                                                                            141,411                 0.14
-------------------------------------------------------------- 

Note: Unitech Wireless, majority owned by Norway's Telenor
(TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research), and S Tel started mobile operations in December.

Wireless tele-density, or mobile connections per every 100 people, was at 44.73 at the end of December, the regulator said. Fixed-line subscriber base declined to 37.06 million in
December from 37.16 million in November.

Including fixed-line phones, India had 562.21 million phones at the end of December, or a tele-density of 47.89.