Record cell connections in October

Cellular operators added a record 16.67 million new subscribers in October, the highest ever, largely driven by the newly introduced per-second billing plans by several telecom majors. According to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the total telephone subscriber base increased to 525.65 million at the end of October,as compared to 509.03 million in the previous month, registering a 3.26% month-over-month growth. Despite the low subscriber base in both Mumbai and Delhi, data shows that the metros have generated higher revenues than other states with larger number of subscribers. For the quarter ending September 30, 2009, revenues from the Delhi circle, including both wireline and wireless subscribers, were at Rs 2,438.07 crore.This was the highest for any circle in the country. The combined subscriber base for both services in Delhi is pegged at 27.47 million. Mumbai recorded revenues of Rs 2,052.81 crore, with a subscriber base of 25.35 million. Incidentally, Tamil Nadu together with Chennai generated revenues of Rs 2,177.19 crore with a subscriber base of more than 49 million. As for new subscribers, Tata Teleservices ( TTSL), which is ranked sixth in terms of market share, led the overall additions for the third straight month with 3.87 million new users, followed by Vodafone at 2.98 million. TTSL added 4 million subscribers in September with its per second billing plan, and 3.4 million new customers in August, a 52% increase over July. However, in terms of market share, Airtel, which added 2.7 million new users in October, continued to be numero uno. RCom was left behind in the race as it managed only 2.1 million additions for the month.