India GSM phone base tops 100 mln in November

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -

Indian GSM carriers signed up a record 5 million users in November, boosting their base to beyond 100 million and making the country the third-biggest market for such services globally, a telecoms industry body said on Friday.
Call rates of as low as 2-3 U.S. cents a minute are luring customers in the world's fastest-growing wireless services market, where mobile phone ownership is still less than 14 percent in the billion-plus population.
The Cellular Operators' Association, which represents 9 carriers offering wireless services based on the widely prevalent Global System for Mobile communication, said 5.044 million users signed up in November, an increase from 4.727 million in October.
The GSM base rose to 100.7 million, behind Russia which has 152.2 million such users and China, which tops the list, with 401.7 million, the industry body said.
Overall, India's mobile user base, which also consists of CDMA customers, rose to 142.3 million. Carriers offering mobile services on the CDMA platform are yet to report numbers.
The mobile user base of Bharti Airtel Ltd., India's top provider of such services, rose to 30.26 million after it added 1.65 million customers.
Second-ranked GSM firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. lured 921,147 customers, boosting its user base to 22.97 million.
Hutchison Essar Ltd. added a shade over a million customers, lifting its user base to 22.27 million.© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.