Dec. GSM subscriber addition at 12.52mn

The GSM-based cellular service providers have reported subscriber additions of 12.52mn during December, as against addition of 11.09mn in November, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said. With this, the cumulative All India GSM subscriber base has now grown to 379.85mn in November, up from 366.78mn in October, the lobby group for GSM operators said. Among the companies, Vodafone Essar added 2.79mn new users in November, taking its total base to 91.4mn while market leader Bharti Airtel saw its total base rise by 2.85mn to 118.86mn. Idea Cellular added 1.71mn new customers, boosting its subscriber base to 57.61mn, while Aircel increased its base by 1.67mn to 31.02mn. BSNL added 2.03mn new customers, taking its reach to 57.22mn. Loop Mobile added 54,276 new subscribers, taking its total to 2.65mn. MTNL added 57,009 new customers, boosting its total base to 4.57mn. Bharti Airtel continues to be the top GSM operator in the country, with a market share of 31.29% followed by Vodafone Essar at 24.06%, BSNL at 15.06% and Idea at 15.17%.