The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has released GSM subscriber data for December 2013. As per the association, the GSM subscriber base in the country increased by 0.99 per cent from 688.02 million in November 2013 to 694.83 million in December 2013. In December, GSM operators added 6.80 million new subscribers.
Operator-wise, Bharti Airtel led the pack with 198.41 million GSM users. The operator was followed by Vodafone India (160.41 million customers), Idea Cellular (128.69) million subscribers), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) (97.17 million customers), and Aircel (66.91million customers).
Bharti Airtel added 1.81 million GSM customers in the period under review, while Vodafone India and Idea Cellular added 2.37 and 0.27 million subscribers respectively. BSNL did not add any new subscribers in December 2013, while Aircel added 1.63 customers.
Consequently, Bharti Airtel held 28.55 per cent market share, Vodafone India held 23.09 per cent, Idea Cellular 18.52 per cent, BSNL 13.99 per cent and Aircel 9.63 per cent.
Circle-wise, the Uttar Pradesh (East) circle had maximum number of GSM subscribers ? 60.96 million ? in December 2013. Overall, Category B circles accounted for 39.27 per cent of the GSM subscriber base, followed by Category A circles (34.85 per cent), Category C circles (14.74 per cent and metros (11.14 per cent).
