Mobile phone operators in India add 5.71 million subscribers in October
15 Nov 2007
Total number of users, excluding Reliance, has risen to 154.7 million, COAI said.
Bharti Airtel, the country''s largest mobile service operator, added 2.03 million new users, taking its number of subscribers to 50.9 million as of October 31. Bharti has a market share of 31.88 per cent, the release said.
Vodafone-Essar (formerly Hutch-Essar) added 1.52 million new users, raising its subscriber base to 37.18 million. It has a market share of 23.28 per cent.
State-run telecom firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) added 727,855 and 53,739 new users, respectively during the period.
Birla group firm Idea Cellular added 750,108 new users last month taking its subscriber base to 1.94 million.
CDMA operator Reliance Communications registered a total subscriber base of 5.03 million with a 3.15 per cent market share. The Anil Ambani-promoted firm, however, did not announce its monthly additions.
The mobile market in India is booming thanks to cheap call rates and availability of cheaper handsets as also the expansion of networks to smaller towns and rural areas.