Airtel retains lead, adds 20 lakh users

GSM operators added 57.15 lakh users in October, a 3.71 per cent rise from September, to take the total number of mobile users to 15.97 crore in 22 circles in the country.

The figures do not include Reliance Telecom. The Anil Ambani group company, which has operations in seven circles and a subscriber base of around 50 lakh, is not divulging its subscriber figures since the last three months.

According to the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), the GSM operators' body, Bharti Airtel retained its leadership position with a market share of 31.88 per cent. The GSM major added 20.32 lakh users during the month under review and increased its subscriber base to 5.09 crore. 
 

SIM SCORECARD
Company	Total  subscribers	Market share (%)
Bharti Airtel	50,908,636	31.88
Vodafone Essar	37,186,630	23.28
BSNL	31,032,779	19.43
IDEA	19,421,968	12.16
Aircel	8,524,005	5.34
Reliance*	5,036,485	3.15
Spice	3,570,276	2.24
MTNL	2,825,859	1.77
BPL	1,201,464	0.75
All India	159,708,102	100.00

Vodafone-Essar, with a market share of 23.28 per cent, was in the second position. It added around 15.29 lakh users in October, taking its total subscriber base to 3.71 crore.

The state-owned telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) ranks third with a market share of 19.43 per cent and it added 7.27 lakh users during the month. BSNL's total subscriber base rose to 3.10 crore by end of the reporting month.