India’s mobile user base swells to 874 million

Indian telecom service providers added 7.9 million new wireless subscribers in September, taking the total number of wireless users in the country to 873.61 million.

The wireless user base rose nearly 1 per cent during the month, compared with the previous month, taking the overall wireless tele-density (number of telephone connections per 100 people) in the country to 72.70, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Bharti Airtel, the country's leading service provider, added 0.93 million subscribers in September, taking its user base to 172.78 million.

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications added 1.02 million new users to take its total customer base to over 147.08 million, while Vodafone added 0.84 million new customers during the month, taking its user base to 144.99 million. Aircel added over 0.60 million users during the period.

State-owned BSNL added 0.38 million new users, taking its total subscriber base to 95.79 million. The other state-run telecom company MTNL saw 28,360 new users registering for its service in the reported month.

Private operators hold 88.40 per cent of the wireless market share, while both the state-owned firms, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, hold only 11.60 per cent.
 
The share of the urban subscriber has marginally increased to 65.95 per cent from 65.90 per cent where as the share of the rural subscriber has marginally decreased from 34.10 per cent to 34.05 per cent.