Date:08/10/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/10/08/stories/2005100803170400.htm

Back GSM subscriber base crosses 50 m in Sept

Our Bureau

New Delhi , Oct. 7

THE number of subscribers using mobiles based on the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology crossed the 50 million-mark in September, with the addition of two million new users during the month.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Friday said its subscriber addition grew by 4.01 per cent in September to reach the milestone. The growth in subscriber base may, however, lead to more congestion due to inadequate spectrum and points of interconnection.

Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, the largest private GSM player, added 6.5 lakh new mobile users during the month, taking its total wireless user base to 14.067 million with a market share of 27.65 per cent. The State-owned BSNL added 4.9 million users, taking its total base to 11.90 million and a market share of 23.39 per cent. Hutch reported an addition of 4.1 lakh new users, taking the market share to 19.08 per cent with the total subscriber base at 9.29 million.

According to COAI, Circle C states continued to witness the highest rate of growth at 8.1 per cent. Within the Category C circles, Bihar recorded the highest additions with 1.2 lakh new users, followed by Jammu and Kashmir with 56,557 additions.

However, Delhi and Mumbai continued to be the hot spots in terms of volume and market share. Delhi continues to be the leading cellular market with 4.71 million subscribers accounting for 9.3 per cent market share, closely followed by Mumbai with 4.51 million subscribers accounting for 8.9 per cent of the total market. Overall, metro subscribers grew by 2.8 per cent.

Category A circles witnessed a growth of 2.8 per cent. Among these, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest additions with 1.6 lakh new users, followed by Andhra Pradesh with one lakh additions.

As compared to metros and A Category circles, Category B circles recorded a much healthier growth at 5.4 per cent.

Among all circles, Uttar Pradesh (East) added the maximum numbers with 2,29,972 new subscribers, COAI said.