GSM subscriber growth numbers for November have been released by COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India) and according to these numbers IDEA Cellular has apparently overtaken BSNL in total subscriber base.
IDEA has reached 55.90 million GSM subscribers and has overtaken BSNL which has 55.18 million subscribers. This puts IDEA at no.3 position after Bharti Airtel and Reliance in terms of market share. IDEA has 15.24% of the market share now.
IDEA showed an increased growth rate at 4.78% along with Aircel which grew at 5.79%. But in terms of total number of subscriber additions Bharti Airtel was still no.1 as it added close to 2.8 million subscribers and reached over 116 million total subscribers even though that adds up to a growth rate of 2.47%.
Will Tariffs Fall Further?
Bharti Airtel Chairman Mr.Sunil Mittal felt that tariffs are likely to fall. He said the following “Indian tariffs are already the lowest in the world. Competition will grow and the tariff will probably fall further”. Tariff wars have moved from calls to sms and even to other services. Infact this report suggests that operators could resort to location based offers to attract new customers. And why not? After all only 500 million Indians are using mobile phone’s while another 500 million are yet to be tapped.
