18.18 mn new users in August take mobile base to 670.60 mn

NEW DELHI - The mobile subscriber base in India expanded to 670.60 million in August this year with the addition of 18.18 million new users, the telecom regulator said Tuesday.

According to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the wireless subscriber base increased from 652.42 million in July to 670.60 million by the end of August, 2010, translating into a growth of 2.79 per cent.

While the total number of telephone subscriber base reached 706.37 million from 688.38 million in July, the wireline subscription declined to 35.77 million as against 35.96 million in the previous month.

With this, the overall teledensity reached 59.63 percent.

The growth in the wireless category was led by Vodafone, which added 2.30 million users taking its total number of subscribers count to 113.77 million.

Bharti Airtel added 2.03 million users taking its total number of subscribers to 141.25 million while Reliance communications added 2 million customers, taking its total subscribers base to 115.32 million.

Idea Cellular and Aircel added 1.98 million and 1.61 millions respectively. Tata teleservices added 2.09 million customers taking its total users count to 76.943 million.

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited added 2.25 million users in August taking its subscribers base to 76.03 million while Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd added 27,594 users in August.

Both these public sector undertakings hold 83.68 percent share of the wireline market.

According to the data, the total broadband subscriber base also increased to 10.08 million in August from 9.77 million in July, recording a growth of 3.17 percent.