The number of cellular subscribers in the country is estimated to have crossed the half-a-million mark, placing it among the fastest growing wireless markets in the world. The cellphone user base, which was pegged at over 490,000 at the end of last month, has scaled the crucial benchmark in the last two weeks, say sources.
'The cellular network in the country has been adding 20,000-25,000 subscribers every month for two-three months. Going by that estimate, we have surely crossed the half-a-million mark. The networks in Mumbai and Delhi alone activated 7,000-8,000 cellphones in the first two weeks of this month,' says a cellular company's chief executive officer.
The half-a-million mark has been notched up in less than two years since cellular services were first introduced in the country. GSM (global system for mobile communications)-based cellular services first started in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta in the second half of 1995.
The service started in the rest of country
