GSM Operators Add 370,000 Users in Rural Areas in July: COAI

GSM telecom operators added a net of 370,000 new users in rural areas in July to take the user base to 303.1 million, industry body COAI said today.

"GSM rural subscriber net additions in July 2014 was 0.37 million with 0.12 percent increase from previous month," Cellular Operators Association of India said.

All India GSM rural subscriber figures as of July stood at 303.10 million, it said.

Uninor added the maximum number of subscribers in rural areas in July at 300,000 to take its base to 12.6 million whereas Vodafone lost 290,000 users in the month and its user base in rural areas at the end of July stood at 90.6 million.

Bharti Airtel added 90,000 subscribers in the month to take its base to 96.7 million whereas Aircel added 250,000 lakh new users and its base stood at 26.2 million at the end of July.

Idea Cellular added 20,000 new users to take its base to 76.8 million.

In terms of rural and urban subscriber mix, Vodafone and Idea have more percentage of rural users whereas Airtel, Aircel and Uninor have more urban users.

The all India GSM cellular subscriber base was 744.42 million as of July.