GSM subscriber addition at 10.32mn in October

The GSM-based cellular service providers have reported subscriber additions of 10.32mn during October, as against addition of 9.03mn in September, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said. With this, the cumulative All India GSM subscriber base has now grown to 355.25mn in October, up from 344.93mn in September, the lobby group for GSM operators said. Among the companies, Vodafone Essar added 2.98mn new users in October, taking its total base to 85.82mn while market leader Bharti Airtel saw its total base rise by 2.7mn to 113.21mn. Idea Cellular added 1.9mn new customers, boosting its subscriber base to 53.35mn, while Aircel increased its base by 2.02mn to 27.75mn. BSNL added 0.6mn new customers, taking its reach to 53.96mn. Loop Mobile added 50,064 new subscribers, taking its total to 2.55mn. MTNL added 65,730 new customers, boosting its total base to 4.44mn. Bharti Airtel continues to be the top GSM operator in the country, with a market share of 31.87% followed by Vodafone Essar at 24.16%, BSNL at 15.19% and Idea at 15.02%.