Telecom operators add new subscribers despite license cancellation
GSM operators, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, have added 8.44 million new subscribers in February, pushing the total number of GSM subscribers in India to 656.86 million. However, new telecom operators Uninor and MTS, whose licenses were scrapped by the Supreme Court earlier this year, have continued to add new subscribers.
Uninor, a joint venture between Unitech and Norway-based Telenor, added 2.34 million users in the review period, gaining a growth of 6.04 per cent. Earlier, its subscribers base was 41.14 million. The telecom operator has now announced that it end partnership with its existing joint venture partner Unitech and set up a new company in India to its continue operations.
Another telecom operator whose license was scrapped by the apex court, Sistema Shyam Teleservices that operates under the MTS brand, has gone on to add 232,000 subscribers in February, increasing its total customer base to nearly 15.4 million.
Videocon, which is reportedly winding up its services in most circles, registered second highest growth (5.97 per cent) in February. Videocon added 0.34 million new subscribers, raising its subscribers base to 6.19 million.
Idea Cellular, that lost nine licences in the SC judgement, added the highest number of subscribers with 2.5 million. Bharti Airtel added 1.82 million users. Vodafone Essar and Aircel added 0.83 million and 0.79 million new subscribers respectively.
However, state-run BSNL could not add even a single new subscriber for the month. BSNL’s user base stood at 93.42 million.
Also read,
- India’s telephone user base rises to 926.53 million
- Airtel, Idea, Loop summoned over rejecting MNP requests