The GSM-based mobile subscriber base has gone up by 994,000 in April at 2.71 crore (27.1 million) customers with the Bharti Group cornering almost one-fourth of the market with 67.58 lakh (6.76 million) customers.
According to the latest figures released by the Cellular Operators Association of India, the subscriber additions during April was at 994,000. This is a 28 per cent decline from the average January-March 2004 figures and a 34 per cent drop from March 2004.
Bharti had a market share of 24.89 per cent in April. It added 254,000 subscribers during the month.
Hutch occupied the second slot with a total subscriber base of 53.88 lakh (5.39 million) and a market share of 19.85 per cent. It added 230,000 subscribers in April.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd ended the month with a subscriber base of 53.55 lakh (5.35 million) and a market share of 19.73 per cent. The net addition for BSNL in April was 120,000 subscribers.
Idea Cellular notched a subscriber base of 28.14 lakh (2.81 million) with a market share of over 10.37 per cent.
BPL cornered 20.17 lakh (2.02 million) subscribers in April to have a market share of 7.43 per cent, while Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd which operates only in Delhi and Mumbai ended with a market share of 1.39 per cent and a subscriber base of 377,000.
Reliance's April subscriber base was at 319,000 with a market share of 3.02 per cent.
Spice Telecom had a subscriber base of 12,46,844 with a market share of 4.59 per cent.
Aircel cornered a market share of 3.95 per cent in April with a subscriber base of 10.72 lakh (1.07 million), while Escotel ended the month with a subscriber base of 10.31 lakh (1.03 million).
Hexacom had a subscriber base of 265,000 in April.
In Delhi, the cellular subscriber base was up by 1.54 per cent to 32.90 lakh (3.29 million), while in Mumbai, the increase was by 3.44 per cent at 29.27 lakh (2.93 million).
Chennai touched a cellular subscriber base of 10.39 lakh (1.04 million) showing a growth of 5.53 per cent, while Kolkata showed the highest growth of 5.66 per cent at 930,000.
The cellular subscriber base in metros rose by 3.17 per cent to touch 81.83 lakh (8.18 million).
In circle A, comprising Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the subscriber base was up at 1 crore (10 million), an increase of 3.56 per cent.
In circle B, comprising Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (W) and (E), Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Andaman Nicobar, the subscriber base stood at 77.48 lakh (7.75 million), up 4.68 per cent.
In circle C, comprising Orissa, HP, Bihar, Assam, J&K and North East, the cellular subscriber base was up at 11.62 lakh (1.16 million), a rise of 4.53 per cent.
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