India adds 5.9 mln mobile users in August http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-09-12T180310Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-267159-1.xml
Tue Sep 12, 2006
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India, the world's fastest growing mobile services market, added 5.9 million new wireless customers in August, boosting its user base to 123.44 million, the telecoms regulator said on Tuesday. More than 4.2 million users opted for mobile services based on the GSM platform, and the rest signed up for facilities that run on rival code division multiple access technology.
Asia's fourth-largest economy had added 5.39 million new mobile users in July.
India's total number of users has surged after telecoms officials ruled that customers opting for fixed wireless phones, based on CDMA technology, would also be counted as mobile users.
Growth is being spurred by the cheapest call rates anywhere and a massive expansion of networks across the country.
Major players in the sector include Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd., state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. and Hutchison Essar Ltd.
Overall, India had 164.31 million telephone users in August, up from 158.37 million in July.
Almost all the new additions are in the wireless space, although nearly 40,000 new subscribers also signed up for fixed-line services in the past month.
Now 14.8 people in every 100 have a phone, up from 14.4 at the end of July.
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