RCom added most customers in November

Added 1.08 lakh new subscribers

Reliance Communications emerged as the best performer in November by adding 1.08 lakh new subscribers while Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices recorded a net reduction during the month, according to data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

In October, Reliance Communication lost 8.44 lakh customers, while Bharti AIrtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular reported net gain, as per TRAI data.

At the end of November, the country’s total telecom subscriber base dipped to 921.47 million, a dcline of 1.47 per cent from 935.18 million till October.

The share of urban wireless subscribers has declined to 62.70 per cent from 63.17 per cent while share of rural subscribers has increased to 37.30 per cent in November 2012. Teledensity in India has declined to 75.55 at the end of November from 76.75 reported till October.

Total wireless subscriber base dipped 1.51 per cent to 890.60 million at the end of November 2012 from 904.23 million in October 2012. This decline is due to large scale disconnections by some of the service providers, TRAI said in a statement.

In November, Loop Mobile, while operates only in Mumbai telecom zone, gained 20,805 new customers, followed by Quadrant (HFCL) that added 5,724 new users.

Tata Teleservices lost 42.33 lakh customers during November, followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone that lost 28.03 lakh and 23.80 lakh customers respectively during the month.

According to TRAi data, private operators still command 88.19 per cent of the wireless market share where as BSNL and MTNL, the two state-run operators hold only 11.81 per cent market share.

Wireline subscriber base also declined to 30.87 million till November from 30.95 million till October. Market leader BSNL lost 80704 customers, while Vodafone, Tata Teleservices and Bharti Airtel gained wireline users during November.

More than 77 million wireless users opted for portability till November end from 75.14 million till October 2012, according to TRAI data.

Number of broadband users increased to 14.88 million at the end of November 2012, from 14.81 million in October 2012.