Airtel becomes first operator to cross 200 million mobile subscribers in India

Advertisement
By NDTV Correspondent | Updated: 19 February 2014 16:35 IST
Bharti Airtel, India's biggest telecom operator announced on Wednesday that it has become the first operator in the country to have more than 200 million subscribers.

Airtel said in a statement said that it "has crossed the 200 million mobile subscriber mark in India, further consolidating its leadership position in the world's second-largest mobile market."

The company is in its 20th year of telecom services. Airtel got its first permits for mobile telephony in November 1994 and started services in 1995.

Airtel is the largest telecom operator in India, in terms of both customers and revenue. It is the fourth-largest mobile operator in the world by subscribers.

Advertisement

The latest 100 million users were added in less than five years, according to the Airtel statement. It had crossed the 100 million mark in 2009.

Advertisement

The company led the mobile market with a 28.1 percent share at the end of January, according to data released by the Cellular Operators Association of India.

Vodafone was in second place with 162.1 million users and a 23.06 percent market share, COAI said.

Advertisement

Airtel on Tuesday announced it was buying Loop Mobile, a Mumbai-based telecom operator with roughly 3 million subscribers. Once the deal goes through, Airtel will have over 7 million subscribers in Mumbai, helping it edge ahead of Vodafone's 6.9 subscribers (November 2013 numbers).

The company did not disclose the size of Loop Mobile deal but sources close to the agreement said it is for about Rs. 700 crores. Loop Mobile has a debt of Rs. 400 crores, which is likely to be included in the final transaction.

Under the proposed transaction, Loop Mobile's 2G-enabled network supported by 2,500 plus cell sites will also become part of Airtel's network which has over 4,000 cell sites at present.

Written with inputs from PTI
 

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Cloudflare Is Down Again For the Second Time in Weeks: See Affected Sites
  2. ACT Fibernet Launches New Broadband Plans With Free OTT Subscriptions
  3. OnePlus 15R Surfaces on Benchmarking Site Ahead of India Launch
  4. Flipkart Buy Buy 2025 Sale: Nothing Phone 3, Phone 3a Deals Revealed
  5. Motorola Edge 70 With Pantone's 2026 Colour, Swarovski Crystals Launched
  6. Nothing Phone 3a Lite Goes on Sale in India at This Price
  7. Airtel Discontinues These Prepaid Recharge Packs in India
  8. HMD 101, HMD 100 With Built-In Radio Launched in India at These Prices
  9. Realme Says It Will Launch Two New Narzo Smartphones in India Soon
  10. OTT Releases of the Week (Dec 1 – Dec 7): Know What to Watch
  1. Cloudflare Outage Blocks Access to Several Websites Including BookMyShow, SpaceX, Coinbase
  2. Samsung Galaxy S26 Series to Offer Built-In Support for Company's 25W Magnetic Qi2 Charger: Report
  3. Airtel Discontinues Two Prepaid Recharge Packs in India With Data Benefits, Free Airtel Xtreme Play Subscription
  4. Samsung Galaxy Phones, Devices Are Now Available via Instamart With 10-Minute Instant Delivery
  5. NotebookLM App Gets an In-Built Camera, Lets Users Upload Images as a Source
  6. HMD 101 Launched in India With 1,000mAh Battery, Auto Call Recording Alongside HMD 100: Price, Features
  7. Crypto Traders Await US Fed Signals as Bitcoin Price Drops to $91,900
  8. Nothing Phone 3a Lite Goes on Sale in India: See Price, Offers, Availability
  9. Realme Narzo Phones Confirmed to Launch in India Soon via Amazon
  10. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 Launch Timeline Leaked; Could Debut Alongside Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2025. All rights reserved.