Wireless operators laugh at slowdown

If there is one sector in India that is unlikely to witness slowdown in the next few quarters, it should be Mobile services. As usual GSM subscribers have released their numbers and Bharti Airtel continued to top the charts with 57.41 mn subscribers. Bharti Airtel added 2.25 mn subscribers in Jan, a 4.1% growth MoM.

Vodafone India added 1.28 mn subscribers in Jan [1.3 mn in Dec-07], a 5th consecutive decline in net additions despite strong promotions. The company now has 41.14 mn subscribers and is the second largest GSM operator in India.

BSNL managed to arrest its declining trend and added 1.03 mn subscribers in Jan taking the total number of subscribers to 33.74 mn. Idea Cellular added an impressive 0.9 mn customers taking its tally to 21.95 mn.