GSM operators add 8.21 million users in November

India's GSM operators continued their subscriber addition run, with the eight operators adding 8.21 million users in November, a 1.24 per cent rise from the previous month. This increased the total user base to 670.25 million as of November-end, compared with 662.1 million as of October-end.

Idea Cellular had added the maximum of 2.54 million subscribers during the month, taking its total to 147.95 million users. The Aditya Birla group company added 22.07 per cent, against 18.99 per cent posted in the previous month, according to data released by industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI).

Vodafone India, the second largest operator in the country, added 2.33 million users during the month under review, taking its total to 177.19 million. The Mumbai-based company, the Indian unit of British telecom major Vodafone Group, had a market share of 26.43 per cent (22.99 per cent) in November.

Bharti Airtel, the country's largest service operator by revenue and subscribers, garnered 2.05 million new users. The New Delhi-based company topped the charts in total number of subscribers with 215.46 million users.

Airtel's market share rose to 32.14 per cent, compared with 27.98 recorded during the same period a year ago.

Aircel added 1 million users, taking the total to 77.76 million and increasing its market share to 11.60 per cent (10.03 per cent).

Uninor, controlled by Norwegian telecom firm Telenor, added 0.19 million users in November, taking its total user base to 42.43 million. The company's market share rose to 6.33 per cent from the earlier 5.53 per cent.

Videocon added 0.13 million users taking its total to 6.24 million and in turn, increasing its market share to 0.93 per cent (0.79 per cent). State-run MTNL added 0.02 million taking its total subscriber base to 3.34 million and market share to 0.50 per cent (0.44 per cent).

Numbers for Loop Mobile, which closed down operations on 9 November 2014, were not included, while state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has not been providing figures since September 2012, COAI said.