GSM operators add record 9.3 mn subscribers in Jan

GSM operators in India witnessed a healthy growth in the new year as the GSM subscriber base in the country grew by 9.3 million (excluding Reliance Telecom) in January, 2009. According to the latest data released by Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) the total GSM subscriber base in the country rose to 267.54 million up from 257.85 in December 2008, a growth of about 3.6 per cent during the month of January.

India’s largest private telecom operator Bharti Airtel continued to dominate the market as its subscriber base rose to 88.38 million in January. The operator added 2.73 million subscribers to its subscriber base garnering a market share of 33.04 per cent.

Vodafone-Essar added about 2.4 million customers to its total subscriber base witnessing a growth of 3.95 per cent over the trailing month. The company maintained a market share of 23.68 per cent. The company’s total subscriber base stood just under 63.34 million during the end of the reporting month.

Meanwhile the state-owned operators continued lose their market share to the private operators. The market share of Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL), which operates pan-India operations except Delhi and Mumbai, fell from 16.05 per cent in December, 2008 to 15.95 per cent in January, 2009. The company added about 1.3 million subscribers during the month taking its total subscriber base to 42.67 million. State-owned telco, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, added over 1 lakh subscribers to its total base taking it to over 4 million.

Meanwhile, AV Birla-promoted Idea Cellular (along with Spice Communications) witnessed a rise of 5.27 per cent in its subscriber base over the preceding month as it added over 2 million users during the month to report a total subscriber base of 40 million.