17.45 mn new GSM subscribers added in Nov: COAI

The GSM subscriber base stood at 508.72 million at the end of October, 2010. Bharti Airtel, the largest GSM player, added 3.10 million new users in November, taking its total subscriber base to 149.39 million, data released by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) showed.

It had 28.39 per cent market share as of the end of November, 2010, it added. Rival Vodafone Essar, with a 23.03 per cent market share, notched up 3.12 million new subscribers during the month, the highest amongst all the service providers in the country.

Its subscriber base stood at 121.16 million at the end of the reporting month. Aditya Birla group firm Idea Cellular added 2.80 million users during the month to take its total user base to 78.82 million, while Aircel added 1.21 million customers to take its subscriber base to 48.73 million.

In addition, state-run telecom firms BSNL and MTNL added 3.01 million and 37,110 new users, respectively, taking their subscriber base to 78.19 million and 5.09 million, respectively.