GSM operators in India continued to report healthy growth rate as the subscriber base in the country grew by 8.1 million (excluding Reliance [Get Quote] Telecom) in December 2008.

According to the latest data released by Cellular Operators' Association of India, the total GSM subscriber base rose to 257,85 million, up from 249.35 million in November 2008, a growth of about 3.25 per cent in December.

India's largest private telecom operator Bharti Airtel [Get Quote] continued to dominate the market as its subscriber base rose to 85.65 million in December. The operator added 2.73 million subscribers, garnering a market share of 33.22 per cent.

Vodafone-Essar added about 2.17 million customers to its total subscriber base, a growth of 3.69 per cent over the trailing month. The company maintained a market share of 23.57 per cent. Its total subscriber base stood at just under 61 million during the end of the reporting month.

Meanwhile, the state-owned operators continued to lose their market share to the private operators. The market share of Bharat Sanchar Nigam, which has a pan-India presence except in Delhi and Mumbai, fell from 16.24 per cent in November 2008 to 16.05 per cent in December. The company added about 8.7 lakh subscribers during the month, taking its total subscriber base to over 41 million. State-owned telco Mahanagar Telephone Nigam [Get Quote], which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, added over 78,500 subscribers to its total base taking it to 3.9 million.

Meanwhile, AV Birla-promoted Idea Cellular [Get Quote] (along with Spice Communications) witnessed a rise of 4.1 per cent in its subscriber base over the preceding month as it added a total of 1.5 million users during the month to report a total subscriber base of 38 million.