India, the world's fastest growing mobile phones market, added 2.327 million new users in November for services based on the Global System for Mobile communications standard.

New GSM additions in November 2005, the highest ever since services were launched more than a decade ago, helped the user base touch 55.31 million, up 4.4 percent over October 2005 when 2.11 million users signed up, the Cellular Operators' Association, which represents nine carriers, said on 7 th December, 2005.

Asia's third largest economy has a total of 70.81 million wireless customers, including those using services based on the rival CDMA technology.

Local mobile call tariffs of as low as 2 U.S. cents a minute are driving cellular usage in India, where less than seven percent of the 1 billion-plus population use mobile services.

Monthly additions are soaring as carriers expand networks into untapped rural areas where around two thirds of the population lives.

India's top mobile services firm, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd., added 675,636 GSM wireless users in November 2005, taking its customer base to 15.416 million subscribers. In November 2005, UK-based mobile giant Vodafone Group Plc. spent $1.5 billion to buy a 10 percent stake in Bharti, which is also 30.84 percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd., the second-ranked GSM operator, had a mobile user base of 13.289 million customers. It added 778,259 subscribers in November.

Hutchison Essar Telecom Ltd., the Indian wireless operation of Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd., added 520,357 mobile users in the past month. The firm's user base stood at 10.682 million customers.

Metro subscribers grew 3.2% over October 2005. Delhi continues to be the leading cellular market in the country with 49.5 lakh subscribers, accounting for 8.95% of the total market, closely followed by Mumbai with 48.5 lakh subscribers and 8.77% of the total market. Around 8,000 customers signed up for MTNL, offering services in Mumbai and Delhi. It now has 14.4 lakh subscribers and 2.61% market share.

( http://in.today.reuters.com, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com)