India's cellular phone sector added a record number of users in November after a state-run telecom firm went national with its mobile services, an industry body said on Thursday.
The sector, which has the cheapest tariffs in the world, added 753,432 subscribers in November, an 86.2 per cent jump over the year-ago period, the Cellular Operators Association of India has said in a statement.
The total number of subscribers in the fast-growing sector touched 9.73 million in November, the statement said.
"The record jump is mainly because BSNL started its services across India and Idea Cellular became operational in Delhi," T V Ramachandran, director-general of the association, said.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd is India's largest telecom firm and has a license to provide cellular services in the entire country, except New Delhi, the national capital, and Mumbai, the financial hub.
The unlisted Idea Cellular Ltd is an equal venture of US giant AT&T Wireless Services Inc, the Tata group and Birla conglomerate.
Idea Cellular became the fourth cellular operator in Delhi, the nation's largest cellular market, when it launched its services on November 7.
Ramachandran estimated the unlisted BSNL added around 275,000 new users in November, while Idea Cellular notched up 75,384 customers in Delhi and its suburbs.
The money-losing sector expects to have 12 million users by March 2003 and some 120 million by 2008, making it one of the fastest growing markets globally this decade.
The main players in the domestic cellular market include Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd -- in which Singapore Telecommunications Ltd has a stake -- the Indian mobile unit of Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate, Idea Cellular, BSNL and state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.
India's telecom sector is carved into 22 circles or zones, classified as 'metro' and 'A', 'B' and 'C' circles, based on subscriber potential.
According to COAI data, the number of customers in the lucrative metro markets leapt 89.1 per cent in November to 3.88 million, and subscribers in 'A' circles jumped 80.9 per cent to 3.24 million users.
The 'B' circles saw users surging 91.3 per cent to 2.29 million and mobile customers in the 'C' circles, which represent the lowest subscriber potential, rose 74.1 per cent to 324,298 users, data showed.