MUMBAI: Cellular firms offering GSM-based services roped in a record 23.2 lakh subscribers during November 2005, taking their total user base to 5.53 crore. This is the highest monthly subscriber addition recorded by the GSM industry since it began offering services a decade ago.

According to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents the nine GSM service providers, the total subscriber base increased by 4.4% over October 2005.

Metro subscribers grew 3.2% over October. Delhi continues to be the leading cellular market in the country with 49.5 lakh subscribers, accounting for 8.95% of the total market, closely followed by Mumbai with 48.5 lakh subscribers and 8.77% of the total market.

BSNL, the number two GSM player after Bharti, added the maximum users at 7.8 lakh. The public sector company now has 1.33 crore subscribers and a 24.02% share of the market, COAI said. Bharti, the country’s largest private telco, added 6.8 lakh users, taking its total customer base to 1.54 crore and market share to 27.87%.

Hutch roped in 5.2 lakh users to take its tally to 1.07 crore with a market share of 19.31%. It was followed by Idea, which added 1.5 lakh customers to take the total to 62.1 lakh and a 11.23% market share. BPL Cellular’s user base grew to 28.7 lakh, but its market share fell from 5.38% in October to 5.19% in November.

Aircel saw its user base increasing to 22.2 lakh in November with a market share of 4.03%. Reliance Telecom’s user base increased to 16.2 lakh, a market share of 2.94%, while that for Spice moved up 3,000 to 15.5 lakh. It now has 2.81% of the market.

Around 8,000 customers signed up for MTNL, offering services in Mumbai and Delhi. It now has 14.4 lakh subscribers and 2.61% market share.

City/Circle

Operators

Oct'2005

Nov'2005

Dec'2005

Metros

Delhi

Bharti Tele-Ventures

1801099

1823301

Hutchison Essar

1642090

1678591

MTNL

637070

659948

Idea

758179

788234

Mumbai

BPL Mobile

1317043

1322058

Hutchison Max

1666063

1715280

MTNL

728918

783398

Bharti Tele-Ventures

1001518

1030128

Chennai

Aircel Cellular

637279

659579

Bharti Tele-Ventures

527803

558950

Hutchison Essar

316292

325228

BSNL

433501

473211

Kolkata

Bharti Tele-Ventures

513742

539232

Hutchison Telecom

746747

770192

BSNL

322891

343682

Reliable Internet

7167

9724

All Metros

Total

13057402

13470736

A' Circle

Maharashtra

BPL Cellular

657102

665642

Idea

1442442

1457193

Bharti Tele-Ventures

929527

1001118

BSNL

1056053

1056053

Gujarat

Fascel

1510641

1612838

Idea

791395

824984

Bharti Tele-Ventures

613332

657751

BSNL

821250

825250

A.P.

Idea

781965

798497

Bharti Tele-Ventures

1317675

1344384

Hutchison Essar

603033

648222

BSNL

854400

884028

Karnataka

Bharti Tele-Ventures

1631865

1671528

Spice Comm

310409

318538

Hutchison Essar

802083

848256

BSNL

878919

936559

T.N.

BPL Cellular

453297

457247

Aircel Limited

1532230

1550038

BSNL

1017169

1139141

Bharti Tele-Ventures

609539

642980

A' Circle

Total

18614326

19340247

B' Circle

Kerala

Idea Mobile Comm

711507

740180

BPL Cellular

421646

423196

Bharti Tele-Ventures

453399

481853

BSNL

858538

987322

Punjab

Spice Comm.

1208359

1235033

Bharti Tele-Ventures

1434455

1516621

BSNL

410303

406839

Hutchison Essar

430365

505021

Haryana

Idea Mobile Comm

247673

249825

Aircel Digilink

281563

298613

Bharti Tele-Ventures

341650

361884

BSNL

451577

460657

U.P.(W)

Ideal Mobile Comm

758014

768051

Bharti Tele-Ventures

506648

507321

BSNL

810175

845071

Hutchison Essar

355876

401336

U.P.(E)

Aircel Digilink

1059738

1088102

BSNL

1339358

1424342

Bharti Tele-Ventures

429283

457747

Rajasthan

Aircel Digilink

468702

490743

Bharti Hexacom

765052

773426

BSNL

708067

772156

M.P.

Idea

571547

583208

Reliance Telecom

439116

443899

Bharti Tele-Ventures

313242

338435

BSNL

372558

378603

W.B. & A&N

Reliance Telecom

221036

223471

BSNL

408833

420587

Bharti Tele-Ventures

232752

249964

Hutchison Telecom

278964

300092

Dishnet Wireless

962

B' Circle

Total

17280996

18134560

C' Circle

H.P.

Bharti Tele-Ventures

285883

305459

Reliance Telecom

58809

58890

BSNL

181965

196190

Bihar

Reliance Telecom

480009

480248

BSNL

516743

590226

Bharti Tele-Ventures

498580

548753

Orissa

Reliance Telecom

175570

177226

BSNL

368149

395746

Bharti Tele-Ventures

246524

279140

Dishnet Wireless

9697

Assam

Reliance Telecom

177518

179989

BSNL

212914

229152

Bharti Tele-Ventures

86346

101674

Dishnet Wireless

7905

N.E.

Reliance Telecom

48686

50404

Bharti Tele-Ventures

12078

14885

BSNL

148198

155911

Dishnet Wireless

10395

Jammu & Kashmir

BSNL

339265

368359

Bharti Tele-Ventures

197374

209468

C' Circle

Total

4034611

4369717

All India

Total

52987335

55315260