MTNL tops GSM list in metros

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has, for the fourth month in succession, outperformed its competitors both in Delhi and Mumbai in cellular additions.

According to MTNL Chairman and Managing Director RSP Sinha, the company accounted for 63 per cent of the new GSM connections in Delhi and 46 per cent in Mumbai in March.

The company added 43,270 subscribers to its base in Delhi last month against a little over 24,000 by Bharti and 30,127 by Hutch.

The other GSM player in Delhi, Idea Cellular saw its base slide by about 25,000 during the month. In Mumbai, MTNL added 54,307 subscribers against 32,400 by Bharti, 25,133 by BPL and 7,122 by Hutch.

"For the past four months, our subscribers have been increasing much faster than our competitors," Sinha said. He also added that the company was in the process of finalising plans for further expansion of its network in both the metros.

In February, MTNL accounted for 39.53 per cent of all GSM cellular additions in Delhi as against 27.17 per cent for Bharti, 21.91 per cent for Hutch and 11.39 per cent for Idea.

In Mumbai, 45.03 per cent of subscribers who bought a GSM cell phone during February chose MTNL, compared with 29.40 per cent for Bharti, 21.31 per cent for Hutch and 4.26 per cent for BPL.

In January 2005, MTNL had got the "most-preferred service provider slot" by adding 53 per cent GSM market customers in Delhi and 39 per cent in Mumbai.