Cellular firms add 62% users in Dec

Increased coverage, lifetime free incoming drive growth.

Mobile subscriptions are witnessing a quantum leap following the lifetime validity schemes introduced by cellular majors in December last year.

The industry posted the strongest net addition of 44.6 lakh users during the month. The subscriber base rose to over 758.7 lakh during the month, a sequential growth of 62 per cent.

Both GSM and CDMA operators witnessed strong growth due an increase in coverage by operators and "interesting packages", such as free lifetime incoming offered by operators, according to a study by Morgan Stanley.

Overall telephone subscribers touched 12.48 crore, with Reliance Infocomm posting the highest net additions at 22 per cent followed by BSNL with 20.7 per cent and Bharti with 19.7 per cent.

GSM operators added 32 lakh subscribers, the highest net additions ever recorded by the industry. Growth in the CDMA segment was the highest in two years at 12.6 lakh, with Reliance Infocomm posting net additions of 7.85 lakh users.

The state-owned telephony behemoth Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) became the first company to cross 10 lakh net additions, increasing its total subscriber base to 143 lakh. At present, the PSU has a 24 per cent market share.

Bharti Tele-Ventures added 91.1 lakh subscribers in December. The company has 163 lakh subscribers and a 24 per cent market share.

Tata, recorded a net additions of 8.69 lakh users in November, banking on its non-stop mobile scheme, but added only 5.95 lakh subscribers in December.

Hutch added 7.31 lakh new subscribers during the month. Hutch, together with BPL, added 7.52 lakh users accounting for 23.5 per cent of the GSM net additions. However, the companies' market share was flat at 18.9 per cent in the wireless space.