GSM operators add 7.61 mn users in February

India's GSM operators garnered a total of 7.61 million subscribers, a 1.08 per cent increase from the previous month, taking the total user base to 711.02 million in February.

The additions do not include that of Bharti Airtel, the country's largest operator by revenue and subscribers, as it could not compiled the data due to a technical problem.

Idea Cellular added the highest of 3.33 million users during the month with a market share of 18.78 per cent. On total subscriber numbers, the Aditya Birla Group company ranked third with a total of 133.55 million users, according to data collated by industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI).

Vodafone India added 2.16 million came, taking its total to 164.34 million. The country's second largest telecom operator garnered a 23.11 per cent market share as of February-end.

Aircel added 702,934 users during the month under review, Telewings, Telenor's rebranded Indian services after its break up with Unitech, added 970,894 subscribers, Videocon 433,738 and state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd added 12,358 new users during the month.

However, even without the February subscriber addition numbers, Bharti Airtel topped with a total of 200.84 million subscribers.

Circle-wise, Uttar Pradesh (East) added the maximum of 62.47 million subscribers during the month.

During the reporting month, the GSM companies added a total of 3.45 million subscribers from the rural sectors, where telecom penetration is lower compared with the urban areas. The 1.24 per cent increase from the previous month, resulted in improving the total user base to 288.89 million.

Vodafone India had 88.46 million users, while Idea Cellular added 73.20 million, Aircel 24.88 million and that by Telewings stood at 10.95 million.

Operator-wise, Idea Cellular added the maximum rural users of 1.95 million. Among telecom service areas, Uttar Pradesh (west) added the most at 29.89 million.

The country's total rural subscribers stood at 370.08 million, with wireless being 364.01 million and that of wired at 6.06 million.