GSM user base rises marginally to 68.31 crore in October: industry body

India's GSM subscriber base rose marginally in October to reach 68.31 crore, with 43.4 lakh new users added during the month, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said on Thursday.

 

The subscriber base was at 67.88 crore at the end of September 2013, the industry body noted.

 

Market leader Bharti Airtel added the maximum number of new users - 14.8 lakh - during the month to take its base to 19.48 crore at the end of October. The company enjoys a market share of 28.53 per cent.

 

Vodafone, the second largest operator in India which has a market share of 22.94 per cent, added 11.5 lakh users to increase its base to 15.66 crore at the end of reported month, COAI said.

 

Idea Cellular, which has overtaken Reliance Communications as the third largest mobile operator of the country, added 11.4 lakh new subscribers. At the end of the month, Idea's base stood at 12.83 crore. Its market share stood at 18.79 per cent.

 

Aircel and Videocon added 4.97 lakh and 2.39 lakh new users, respectively. Their total subscriber base at the end of the month increased to 6.37 crore and 34.8 lakh, respectively.

 

Uninor lost 21,935 lakh users in the month and its overall base at the end of October stood at 3.23 crore, the industry body said.

 

MTNL also lost 1.64 lakh users in October, bringing down its base to 34.46 lakh.