India adds record 3.2 mln GSM mobile users in Dec
NEW DELHI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - India, the world's fastest growing mobile market, added a record 3.187 million new users for wireless services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication platform, an industry body said on Thursday.
The new additions by nine GSM carriers raised their user base to 58.503 million customers in December, according to the Cellular Operators' Association. India has the world's lowest call rates at less than 2 U.S. cents a minute which has been luring subscribers.
The number of new users in December was the highest since services were launched more than a decade ago. GSM carriers added 2.32 million new users in November.
Intense competition has forced carriers to offer juicy discounts and freebies to users.
India has 75.177 million mobile users including customers who use facilities based on the rival Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology. Six carriers operate CDMA based mobile services and some offer both GSM and CDMA services.
Less than eight in a 100 Indians use mobile services at the moment and networks cover only a third of the country.
Demand for mobile services is growing rapidly as carriers are expanding their networks in rural areas where two-thirds of India's billion-plus people live.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), India's top telecoms firm by sales, added 1.01 million users, taking its GSM user base to 14.298 million customers.
India's top mobile services firm, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. , 30.84 percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. , added 911,148 users in December, boosting its wireless user base to 16.327 million.
UK-based mobile giant Vodafone Group Plc. also owns a 10 percent stake in New Delhi-based Bharti, one of the most aggressive players in the sector.
Hutchison Essar Telecom Ltd., the Indian wireless operation of Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. , added 730,763 new users in December. The firm's user base stood at 11.413 million customers.
Apart from competing with each other, Bharti, BSNL and Hutchison also battle it out with CDMA operators Reliance Infocomm Ltd. and Tata Teleservices Ltd. |
