BSNL adds 2.5 mn mobile users in Oct

State-run BSNL today said it has managed to add a whopping 2.5 million mobile subscribers in October, despite the fierce competition from new and incumbent private operators.

The telecom PSU, which was lagging behind private telcos in terms of subscriber additions, has garnered over two million subscriber every month from August till October, Minister of State for IT and Communications Sachin Pilot told reporters here.

The new subscriber additions came mainly on the back of new tariff plans introduced by BSNL, Pilot said while launching the 'Pyari Jodi' plan which offers free mobile with every landline connection of BSNL.

BSNL had added only 1.08 million subscribers in July. However, subscriber additions picked up from August when it added 2.2 million users. BSNL added 2.3 million users in September. BSNL has over 81 million subscribers.

As per the Trai data, all the telecom operators added 18.18 million subscribers in August this year, taking the total number of mobile users in India to 670.60 million.

Besides, the telco is betting big on its 3G services.

"We plan to add over 2.5 million 3G users in the next five months ending March, 2011," BSNL CMD Gopal Das said.

At present, there is only 1.8 million 3G users on its network.

BSNL, which got the first movers advantage as it bagged 3G airwaves ahead of the private players. Though it launched its services in 2009, it could manage to find only few takers.

Only, 1.8 million of its subscribers uses 3G services now.

Most of the private players, who had bagged 3G spectrum in the recently held auction plans to launch the service by the end. One of the players Tata Docomo, has already launched 3G in the country from this week.

However, BSNL, feels once the private operators roll-out 3G, the increased competition in the market will help bring down the cost of devices and services and benefit the users.