Slowdown? India adds 10 mn mobile users in Sept

Even when consumer spending is low due to double-digit inflation and pernicious global financial crisis, India has registered a whopping 10 million new mobile phone subscribers in September.

According to the figures released by industry, GSM operators added 7.69 million new subscribers, while CDMA operators added 2.34 million new users, taking the total mobile subscriber base to 310 million.

Out of the 310 million, GSM subscriber base stood at 233 million, with a market share of 75 per cent.

The increasing addition of mobile phones shows that it has become an essential commodity oblivious to cyclical downturn, according to an industry analyst.

India has been adding mobile users at a blistering pace, ranging between 7 million and 9 million, but the 10 million addition milestone is special as it has come at a time when not only convulsions of global financial crisis but also fears of impending recession are leading consumers to be thrifty.

In the CDMA technology base, Anil Ambani’s RCom is the market leader.

India is the world’s fastest-growing market for wireless services and the second-largest market for such services after China, with growth fuelled by cheap handsets and call rates as low as one US cent a minute.