Indian telecom adds record subscribers

MUMBAI, INDIA: Indian wireless telecoms operators added a record 7.34 million subscribers in June, lifting the user base to 185.13 million, the country's telecoms regulator said on Wednesday.

Wireless phone subscribers in June were 65 percent higher than a year earlier, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said.

India is the world's fastest growing market for mobile services. Analysts forecast the wireless user base will top 500 million in five years, as less than 20 percent of India's 1.1 billion population own a telephone.

Including fixed-line phones, total telephone subscribers grew 47 percent from a year earlier to 225.21 million, the regulator said.

During the April-June quarter, 20.02 million wireless users signed up, but fixed-line connections witnessed a decline of 0.66 million, it said.

Bharti Airtel, which had a subscriber base of 42.7 million at the end of June, is India's top mobile services firm, followed by Reliance Communications Ltd.

Other leading players include Vodafone -controlled Hutchison Essar and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.