GSM players add 17.8 lakh users in August: COAI

The GSM subscriber base in the country grew marginally in August to 67.44 crore with telecom operators adding 17.8 lakh new users in the month, data released by industry body COAI said today.

The GSM subscriber base stood at 67.26 crore at the end of July this year.

Aircel led the growth with addition of 8.76 lakh new users to its network, taking its total subscriber base to 6.26 crore by August-end.

Market leader Bharti Airtel added 8.33 lakh users to take its base to 19.22 crore at the end of the reported period. The company has a market share of 28.50%.

Idea added 7.52 lakh new subscribers to its network to take its base to 12.60 crore by August-end and enjoys a market share of 18.69%.

Vodafone, however, lost over 85,000 users from its network which led its base shrinking to 15.43 crore. The company now has a market share of 22.88%.

Uninor also lost over 5 lakh users, as a result of which, its base stood at 3.22 crore by August-end.

State-run MTNL lost 2.48 lakh subscribers and its user base has been reduced to 38.42 lakh at the end of reported period.

Videocon added 1.58 lakh new users to its network to take its base to 29.29 lakh at the end of August.