Telecom Lead India: GSM mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, lost over 9 million subscribers in November 2012.

At present, GSM user base stands at 663.78 million.

The total subscriber base at the end of October was 672.80 million users.

Several operators are reducing in-active mobile users in India aiming to focus on high quality users.

The reduction is subscriber base is a big worry for telecom equipment vendors. Most of the telecom equipment makers are not expecting a better 2013. “It will depend on the 2G auction result in early 2013. If telecom players are going to buy spectrum at 30 percent discount, it will improve roll out Capex. Otherwise, it will be continuation of 2012,” said a top official with a telecom equipment maker.

According to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), top three operators – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular – which account for over 67 per cent of the GSM market, lost over 6.74 million users in November.

Bharti Airtel lost 2.80 million users. With a market share of 27.66 percent, Airtel has 183.61 million users.

Vodafone and Idea Cellular lost 2.38 million users and 1.56 million users, respectively. Vodafone’s subscriber base stands at 150.76 million, while Idea Cellular has 114.14 million in November 2012.

The Maxis-owned Aircel lost 1.46 million users in November. Its user base reduced to 65.32 million in November.

Uninor, which reducing its exposure in India, lost 4,37,915 users, while Videocon Mobile lost 3,79,787 subscribers.

The state-run operator BSNL did not add a single subscriber in November and had 14.64 percent share in the GSM market with 97.17 million subscribers.

MTNL lost 741 users, taking its user base to 5.12 million at the end of November 2012.

[email protected]