The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has released GSM subscriber data for January 2014. As per the association, the GSM subscriber base in the country increased by 1.24 per cent from 694.83 million in December 2013 to 703.41 million in January 2014. In January, GSM operators added 8.58 million new subscribers.
Operator-wise, Bharti Airtel led the pack with 200.84 million GSM users. The operator was followed by Vodafone India (162.19 million customers), Idea Cellular (130.22) million customers), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) (97.17 million customers), and Aircel (68.44 million customers).
Bharti Airtel added 2.43 million GSM customers in the period under review, while Vodafone India and Idea Cellular added 1.78 and 1.53 million subscribers respectively. BSNL did not add any new subscribers in January 2014, while Aircel added 1.53 customers.
Consequently, Bharti Airtel held 28.55 per cent market share, Vodafone India held 23.06 per cent, Idea Cellular 18.51 per cent, BSNL 13.81 per cent and Aircel 9.73 per cent.
Circle-wise, the Uttar Pradesh (East) circle had maximum number of GSM subscribers ? 61.77 million ? in January 2014. Overall, Category B circles accounted for 39.27 per cent of the GSM subscriber base, followed by Category A circles (34.80 per cent), Category C circles (14.80 per cent and metros (11.12 per cent).
