Cell user base touches 48 lakh

Our eFE Bureau in New Delhi

Cellular operators have turned in another month of impressive figures. In September 2.5 lakh new subscribers were added on an all India basis, taking the total number of cellular users in to 47.98 lakh from 45.43 lakh last month. Last month also cellular operators had added a record 2.5 lakh subscribers.

MTNL’s dry run also ended this month, with the company increasing its combined subscriber base of 42,763 subscribers as against 29,473 last month. In Delhi the company added over 10,000 subscribers last month alone.

Meanwhile, on the basis of the figures collated by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) for the month of September, the BPL-Birla-AT&T-TATA combine has emerged as the largest operator with a countrywide subscriber base of 11.74 lakh subscribers in the seven circles where it currently operates.

This includes 3.4 lakh in Mumbai (BPL Mobile), 36,205 in Madhya Pradesh (RPG Cellcom), 2.03 lakh in Maharashtra, 1.29 lakh in Gujarat (Batata), 1.9 lakh in Andhra Pradesh (Tata Cellular), 1.27 lakh in Tamil Nadu (BPL Cellular), and 1.48 lakh in Kerala (BPL Cellular).

Hutchison is the second largest operator in the country with a total of 10.09 lakh subscribers in the four circles - Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, and Gujarat— where it currently operate services.

Bharti is the third largest operator in the country with a combined subscriber base of 9.83 lakh subscribers in the six circles where it currently operates services. This includes Delhi, Chennai, Calcutta, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh.

Delhi the single largest cellular market in the country with 7.62 lakh subscribers has widened its lead over Mumbai, which has 7.10 lakh subscribers.