India’s GSM subscriber base drops by 7.1 million in August says COAI
According to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), India’s GSM subscriber base is now at 671.95 million, after major players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea Cellular, lost roughly 5.1 million subscribers in the month of August, 2012. It is estimated that the total GSM subscriber base in India declined by 7.1 million in the same period.
Bharti Airtel, which currently holds a 27.82 percent market share, lost 1.90 million subscribers in August, bringing its total subscriber base to 186.9 million. Idea Cellular lost 1.64 million subscribers in the same period, placing its subscriber base at 115.97 million. Vodafone on the other hand, lost 1.55 million subscribers in the same period, giving it a total subscriber base of 153.35 million.
The other GSM operator to lose subscribers in the month of August was Uninor, which lost a significant 2.38 million subscribers. This brings its total subscriber base to 42.11 million. Airceland Loop Mobile were the only two GSM operators to have added subscribers in the same period, with Aircel adding 793,717 subscribers, and Loop Mobile adding 79,842 subscribers.
The COAI report does not include detailed data for BSNL and MTNL, but stated that the former held a subscriber base of 94.67 million subscribers in August, while MTNL held a 5.12 million subscriber base.
