India 's booming wireless sector added 2.11 million new mobile users in October 2005, the highest-ever in a single month, taking the total customers using GSM-based services to nearly 53 million.

The wireless telecom services business has boomed as more people use mobile services due to the sluggish growth of fixed-line services, leading to a rise in foreign investment flows in the sector.

The Cellular Operators' Association, representing nine carriers offering the widely used Global System for Mobile (GSM) services, said the number of additions in October was higher than the 1.96 million users who signed up for a new connection in September.

Local mobile call rates as low as 2 U.S. cents a minute is driving cellular usage in India, where six people in 100 in the more than a billion-strong population use mobile services, including CDMA technology.

India 's top mobile services firm, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. added around 670,000 GSM wireless users in October, it’s highest ever, taking its customer base to 14.74 million. State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL), the second-ranked GSM player, has a mobile user base of 12.51 million customers including around 600,000 subscribers it added last month.

Hutchison Essar Telecom Ltd., the Indian wireless operation of Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd., added around 410,000 users last month. The firm's user base stood at 10.16 million customers.

(www.ciol.com)