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India's GSM user-base leaps over the 100m mark
By siliconindia
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Monday, 11 December 2006, 18:30 IST
Bangalore: With the addition of five million new GSM subscribers in November-the largest since cellular services began in India in 1995-the GSM subscriber base has crossed the 100-million mark. The countryâs present user base makes it the third largest GSM market in the world behind China (401.7 million subscribers) and Russia (152.2 million subscribers).
The total wireless subscriber base in the country consists of both GSM and CDMA subscribers. While CDMA numbers for November are awaited, the largest CDMA player, Reliance Communications, announced that it has added 1.35 million users during the previous month, taking its total subscriber base to 29 million.
Data made available by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) pegged the GSM user base in the country at 101.7 million (as of November-end), compared to 96 million in October 2006.
Riding high on the cellular boom, India had created a global record by adding 6.5 million new wireless (including both CDMA and GSM) subscribers in the month of October-the largest in a single month. Industry sources are upbeat about surpassing the previous monthâs figures as well. While the GSM plus Reliance Communications new additions figure in November measures 6.35 million, the sources said the GSM and CDMA consolidated figure could well touch the 7 million mark.
Data with the COAI reveals that Bharti Airtel, which added 1.65 million new users during the month, led Novemberâs record growth. During the month, Bharti's subscriber base grew by 5.77 percent to cross the 30-million mark, thus taking its market share in the GSM space to 30.03 percent.
Hutchison Essar added over 1 million new users during the same period, taking its total base to 22.2 million, up 4.74 percent from 21.2 million in October 2006. Hutch's market share-the second after Bharti in the GSM space, currently stands at 22.1 percent. State-owned BSNL closed in on the third position for the previous month, adding just under a million new subscribers.
While Category C circles grew at 6.9 percent, it was followed closely by Category B circles, which grew at 6.1 percent. In the Category C circles, Bihar recorded the highest growth of 8.5 percent, followed by Assam at 8.4 percent. Category A circles also witnessed a healthy growth of 5.4 percent in November.