GSM additions fall again in August, operators add 5.33 million users

The slowdown in the Indian telecom sector continued in August, with the GSM service providers adding just 5.33 million users in the month, much lower from the 7.65 million added in July.
   
The total GSM subscriber base, for all the 11 operators, was 611.75 million at the end of last month, according to data released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the representative body of the GSM service providers.
   
Total GSM subscribers in the country rose stood at 606.41 million as on July end, compared with 598.7 million as on June end. The operators had added 7.64 million users in July and 8.6 million users in June, as the slowdown in the industry extended its tentacles to the sector.
   
Bharti Airtel Ltd, the country's largest mobile phone firm by subscribers, retained its leadership position with a 28.09 percent market share, a tad lower from that in July. The New Delhi-based telecom operator added 1.15 million users, taking its total to 171.84 million.
   
Vodafone-Essar, the third largest firm after Reliance Communications also added 1.13 million subscribers, taking its total to 144.14 million. The unit of London-listed Vodafone Group's posted a market share of about 23.56 percent as on August 2011.
   
The COAI data excludes Reliance Communications' numbers, which straddles across both GSM and CDMA. Tata Teleservices Ltd is another company that offers both GSM and CDMA services.
   
Aditya Birla group firm Idea Cellular added 2.3 million users, increasing its total user base to 98.44 million, while GSM operator Aircel added 602,312 customers to take its subscriber base to 59 million.
   
State-owned telecom Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) added 388,057 users, taking total user base to 90.62 million subscribers. The state-run telecom firm maintained a 14.81 percent market share during the month under review.
   
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), another state-run firm, added 32,932 new users during the month, taking its total subscriber base to 5.29 million and maintained its market share at 0.87 percent.
   
Loop Mobile added 19,035 new users in June, taking its overall subscriber base to 3.18 million. However, STel lost 67,259 users and posted a total of 3.43 million users.
   
Uninor, the GSM joint venture of Norway's Telenor and India's leading real estate firm Unitech, added 349,488 users during the month, taking its total subscriber base to 27.74  million users. The company had a market share of around 4.53 percent as on August-end.