Led by Airtel’s 3 Million, Telcos Added 5.68 Million Subscribers in March: COAI

The Indian telecom industry added 5.68 million mobile subscribers in the telephony market in March 2017, the industry body Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) said in its monthly mobile subscribers report on Friday.

The number of mobile phone subscribers by the end of March 2017 has reached 895.25 million. This includes subscribers of Reliance Jio Infocomm as of December 2016, the report said.

"Total subscribers by the end of March 2017 (excluding Jio) have reached 823.10 million. The net increase in subscriber base is 5.68 million in the month of March 2017."

Amongst the telecom companies, Bharti Airtel held the top position, adding another 3 million subscribers during March to take its total subscriber base to 273.65 million subscribers.

Airtel is closely followed by Vodafone with 209.06 million subscribers, Idea Cellular with 195.37 million subscribers and Jio with 72.15 million subscribers. With 33.25 per cent Bharti Airtel continues to own the maximum market share in the industry.

"The telecommunication industry has again posted good growth for the month of March 2017. The growth in the subscriptions indicates that consumer base is expanding and reaching new horizons in the country," said Rajan S. Mathews, Director General, COAI.