The cellular industry started the year with the highest-ever subscriber addition in a month - 3.5 million new customers in January - taking the number of total subscribers to 62 million. In December, GSM-based cellular operators added a record 3.2 million subscribers. The January addititon of 3.5 million is the highest ever since mobile services were introduced 11 years ago. "This is 6% higher than the growth recorded in the previous month," Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said in a statement issued today. Bharti Cellular continued to lead the pack with an addition of 1.04 million new users in January taking its total subscriber base to 17.37 million and a marketshare of 28.02%. BSNL added the maximum number of subscribers - 1.07 million - in January taking its user base to 15.37 million with a marketshare of 24.79%. Hutch added 0.77 million new users in January, and now has a total user base of 13.74 million and marketshare of 22.16%. |