The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has released GSM subscriber data for January 2014.
As per the association, the GSM rural subscriber base in the country increased by 1.5 per cent from 281.21 million in December 2013 to 285.35 million in January 2014. In January, GSM operators added 4.14 million new rural subscribers. During the period under consideration Vodafone India added maximum number of rural subscribers – 1.31 million.
A six month comparison (from August 2013 to January 2014) highlights that the rural GSM subscriber base has registered steady growth-from 271.21 million to 285.35 million in the period under consideration.
Operator-wise, Bharti Airtel led the pack with 91.40 million rural GSM users. The operator was followed by Vodafone India (87.43 million customers), Idea Cellular (71.25 million subscribers), Aircel (24.64 million customers), and Telewings Communications (10.63 million customers).
Bharti Airtel added 1.25 million rural GSM customers in the period under review, while Vodafone India and Idea Cellular added 1.31 and 0.07 million subscribers, respectively. Aircel and Telewings Communications added 0.40 and 0.31 million subscribers, respectively.
Circle-wise, the Uttar Pradesh (East) circle had maximum number of rural GSM subscribers ?29.42 million ? in January 2014. State-wise, Tamil Nadu witnessed the maximum addition of rural subscribers -574,412-in January 2014.
