GSM base crosses 10 cr users

India, the world's fastest growing wireless market, has emerged as the third biggest GSM market with 10 crore subscribers as cellular operators sustained their aggressive growth in November.
GSM operators set a new record in November by adding 50 lakh users, after adding 47 lakh subscribers in October.
The all-India GSM subscriber base in the country has touched the 10 crore mark at the end of November 2006 compared to 9.6 crore as on end October 2006, Cellular Operators Association of India said in a statement.
With this, India has now joined the elite club of countries having more than 10 crore GSM subscribers.
"In terms of GSM subscriber base, India is now placed third after China and Russia," it said.
COAI Director General T V Ramachandran said the GSM industry and COAI were delighted at the achievement of the 10 crore milestone.
"GSM has been the primary engine of growth in telecom in India and will continue to be the major contributor to the growth in teledensity in the coming years," he said.
Among all circles, Category C circles witnessed the highest rate of growth at 6.9 per cent, followed by Category B circles at 6.1 per cent. Within Category C, Bihar and Assam recorded the highest growth at 8.5 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively. In Category B circles, the highest growth was recorded by Haryana and MP at 9.6 per cent and 6.9 per cent.
Category A circles also witnessed a healthy growth of 5.4 per cent in November. Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest growth of 6.6 per cent, followed by Gujarat at 6.2 per cent.
Metro subscribers grew 2.6 per cent over the previous month. Mumbai recorded the highest growth at (4.1 per cent), followed by Delhi (2.9 per cent).