GSM user base rises to 68.31 crore in October: COAI

Subscriber base had stood at 68 crore at the end of September 2013

The GSM subscriber base in the country rose marginally in October to reach 68.31 crore, with 43.4 lakh new users added during the month, industry body COAI said today.

The subscriber base had stood at 67.88 crore at the end of September 2013, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said.

Market leader Bharti Airtel added the maximum 14.8 lakh new users during the month to take its base to 19.48 crore at the end of October. The company enjoys a market share of 28.53%.

Second largest operator Vodafone added 11.5 lakh users to increase its base to 15.66 crore at the end of reported month and the company has a market share of 22.94%, COAI said.

Idea Cellular, which has overtaken Reliance Communications as the third largest mobile operator of the country, added 11.4 lakh new subscribers and its base at end of October stood at 12.83 crore. Its market share stood at 18.79%.

Aircel and Videocon added 4.97 lakh and 2.39 lakh new users and their total subscriber base increased to 6.37 crore and 34.8 lakh respectively at the end of October.

Uninor lost 21,935 lakh users in the month and its overall base at the end of October stood at 3.23 crore, it said.

State-run MTNL also lost 1.64 lakh users in October, bringing down its base to 34.46 lakh.