India's GSM user base rises by nearly 9 mn

India's GSM-based mobile subscriber base grew by 8.89 million in June, as compared to the 8.3 million added in May, an industry body said here Monday in a statement.

According to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the apex body of GSM mobile operators, the growth was still sluggish compared to 8.97 million additions in April and 10.8 million in March.

The GSM-based subscriber base now stands at 315.7 million, an increase of 2.9 percent over the 306.8 million in the previous month. The figures submitted by COAI do not include the additions recorded by Reliance Communications in the month under review.

Bharti Airtel retained its top position with 2.8 million new subscribers added in June, making it the first operator to cross the 100-million subscriber base mark, COAI said.

State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam also recorded a slight increase in the monthly additions, getting 0.8 million (eight lakh) new users in June as compared to 0.45 million additions in May.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam that operates only in Delhi and Mumbai added about 36,953 new users in June, lower than 38,036 additions in May.