January 2017 earmarks scale-up of 5.15 million mobile subscribers : COAI report

NEW DELHI: Continuing its upward trend, the Indian telecom industry marked another month of growth by adding 5.15 million mobile subscribers in the mobile telephony market in January 2017.

In the data released by COAI, the association of mobile operators in the country, the number of mobile phone subscribers showed an increase of 815.15 million in January 2017. The net increase in subscriber base is 5.15 million in the month of January (this information includes data of all COAI members except Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited).

Amongst the telecom companies, Bharti Airtel continues to hold the top position in January, adding another 3.55 million subscribers during the month to take its total subscriber base to 269.40 million subscribers. Airtel is closely followed by Vodafone with 206.44 million subscribers and Idea Cellular with 192.06 million subscribers. With 33.05%, Bharti Airtel continues to own the maximum market share in the industry.

The report, which also assesses the growth of mobile subscribers across various circles in India, said UP East added the maximum number of subscribers (74.35 million) in January. Maharashtra came second with 70.17 million mobile subscribers, with Bihar coming a close third with 69.41 million subscribers. On the other hand, Maharashtra leads in the number of new additions with 0.92 million new subscribers in the month.

Talking about the growth in the subscriber base, Rajan S Mathews, Director General, COAI, said, “The numbers are impressive and motivating for the telecom sector. The growth in the subscriptions indicates that consumer base is expanding and reaching new horizons in the country. The industry continues to provide good service and connectivity across the country and develop mobile infrastructure in far-flung regions, despite extremely trying times and poor financial health of the sector. We hope that this momentum of growth and expansion of mobile infrastructure will help us fulfil the Government’s vision of a fully connected Digital India. We also hope that the industry will receive support in its endeavours to empower consumers and citizens through timely regulatory and policy interventions.”