India, the world's fastest growing mobile phone market, added 3.17 million new GSM users in February, according to the Cellular Operators' Association, which represents the country's nine GSM carriers. The February additions took the total GSM customer base to 65.18 million. Including subscribers on the rival CDMA technology, India added 4.28 million mobile customers in February, taking the total overall to 85.4 million users. February CDMA figures were released on Sunday.
Competition among providers is intense and India has the world's lowest call rates at less than 2 U.S. cents a minute, charges that have been luring subscribers. Demand for mobile services is growing rapidly and carriers have been expanding their networks in rural areas where two-thirds of India's billion-plus people live.
