Cell operators add 2 mn subscribers in May

Indian cellular operators added 2.003 million subscribers in May, up 8.92 per cent from the 1.839 subscribers that were added in April. Of these, GSM-based mobile service providers added 1.225 million subscribers, up 11.8 per cent from the 1.096 million subscribers added in April, while CDMA players added 0.778 million, up 4.76 per cent from the 0.742 million subscribers added during the previous month.

At the end of May, the country had 43.35 million GSM-based mobile phone users, and 17.118 million CDMA users, when compared to 28.15 million GSM and 10.43 CDMA subscribers in May 04.

As per data complied by Cellular Operators Association of India, the body representing all GSM players, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. added 415,540 subscribers in May, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. added 194,302 new users and Hutchison Max Telecom Ltd. added 230,776 subscribers.

Bharti's GSM subscriber base totaled 11.80 million, and the company had a market share of 27.2 per cent, while BSNL had 9.88 million with 22.8 per cent, and Hutchison Max had a base of 8.19 million and a market share of 18.9 per cent, the COAI said.

According to the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, the body representing basic service providers, Reliance Infocomm added 475,00 subscribers in May, compared to 413,866 in April, while Tata Teleservices added 266,471 new users as against 299,586 during the previous month.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. and Bharti Cellular Ltd added 37,893 and 27,993 subscribers respectively (only wirleline and WLL (F)), AUSPI added.