The mobile phone user base in the country has crossed the 33 million mark at the end of the last fiscal, with Reliance topping the list with over 7.2 million followed by Bharti with 6.5 million users.

Also Read Bharti tops GSM subscriber base

Reliance's subscriber base includes both its CDMA-based mobiles and GSM-based mobile subscribers, while Bharti operates only in the GSM-based mobility segment.

As per the latest subscriber base data released by Cellular Operators Association of India and Association of Basic Telecom Operators, BSNL's GSM user base stood at 5.29 million as on March 2004.

The second largest CDMA mobile operator Tatas had a subscriber base of 625,000 followed by HFCL and Shyam at 29,908 and 27,632 respectively.

The GSM growth achieved during the last fiscal (2003-04) stood at a whopping 106 per cent compared to 97 per cent in 2002-03.

"Subscriber additions during March 2004 was 15.07 lakh (1.51 million). This represents a slightly higher level as compared to the previous four months," COAI said in a statement.