GSM user base swells by 9.31mn

The GSM-based cellular service providers added 9.31mn new subscribers in August as against the addition of 9.47mn in June, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said. With this, the cumulative All India GSM subscriber base has now grown to 335.45mn in August (excluding RCOM), up from 325.7mn in July, the lobby group for GSM operators said.

Vodafone Essar added 2.19mn new users in August, taking its total base to 80.87mn while market leader Bharti Airtel saw its total base rise by 2.82mn to 107.99mn. Idea Cellular added 1.54mn new customers, boosting its subscriber base to 50.05mn, while Aircel increased its base by over 1.31mn to 24.42mn. BSNL added 1.36mn new customers, taking its reach to 52.05mn.

Bharti Airtel continues to be the top GSM operator in the country, with a market share of 32.19% followed by Vodafone Essar at 24.11%, BSNL at 15.52% and Idea at 14.92%. The monthly data does not include GSM subscribers of Reliance Communications (RCOM) and Tata Teleservices, who report figures separately. The majority of customers of the two companies use the rival CDMA platform.