GSM additions at 44 lakh in Sep-06, beat August records

New Delhi, Oct 9 (UNI) The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) industry has recorded the highest-ever subscriber additions at 44 lakh in September this year, breaking the record of 42 lakh subscribers added in August, 2006.

The GSM subscriber base touched the 910 lakh mark in September-end this year, as against 866 lakh in August.

''The GSM industry and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) are delighted at the continued upswing in the subscriber additions, as this is a strong evidence of the fact that GSM continues to be the predominant technology choice of the masses,'' COAI Director T V Ramachandran said.

Among all 23 circles, category C circles witnessed the highest rate of growth at 6.4 per cent, followed by Category B circles at 5.6 per cent.

Within the category C circles, the highest growth was recorded by the Assam Circle (8.8 per cent) followed by North East (8.2 per cent), while in category B circles, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana recorded the highest growth at 9.6 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively.

Category A circles also witnessed a healthy growth of 5.25 per cent last month. Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest growth of 6.5 per cent followed by Maharashtra at 5.76 per cent.

Metro subscribers also grew by 3.35 per cent over the previous month. Kolkata recorded the highest growth at 4.7 per cent followed by Chennai at 4 per cent.

UNI RA PKS HT1722