India Piles on 3.9 mln Mobile Phone Users in March
India has added a record 3.9 million new GSM users in March, an industry body said. A statement from the Cellular Operators' Association of India, which represents the country's nine GSM carriers, said the past month's additions boosted the total GSM customer base to about 69.1 million. Including subscribers on the rival CDMA technology, India added a total of 5.14 million mobile customers in March, taking the total number of mobile users to 90.54 million.
March CDMA figures were released earlier this week by the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India. India, which is Asia's third largest economy, has among the world's lowest call rates at less than 2 U.S. cents a minute, charges that have been attracting subscribers in the millions.
Competition among providers is intense with demand for mobile services growing fast and carriers have been expanding networks in rural areas where two-thirds of India's billion-plus people live. India's top telecoms firm by sales, unlisted state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., added nearly 1.1 million subscribers in March, raising its GSM user base to 17.2 million.
India's top mobile services firm, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd., also added about 1.1 million new users, propelling its customer base to 19.6 million.
