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Our Bureau

New Delhi, Oct. 26 Tata Teleservices, which has started per-second billing, emerged the top operator for the second consecutive month. The operator with both GSM and CDMA network added over four million subscribers in September, beating market leader Bharti Airtel yet again. Airtel had 2.5 million new users in September.

Tata Teleservices, which until a few months ago was adding just about a million new users each month, won 3.4 million new subscribers in August, making it the top operator in terms of new subscriber additions in that month.

Tata Tele had broken away from the usual by launching a per-second pulse on its GSM network that allows users to pay for the exact duration of the call. It had also introduced SMS charges based on the number of characters. Other operators, including Sistema and Aircel, have also started this scheme. Airtel charges on a per minute basis, whereby subscribers pay for an entire minute even if the call duration is only 30 seconds.

On the CDMA network, Tata Teleservices introduced a new plan on the pre-paid segment allowing users to pay Re 1 for a call, irrespective of the duration. Tata Tele has 46.7 million mobile subscribers.

“This is fantastic news for us and a validation of the efforts put into making our network and services the best in the industry,” Mr Anil Sardana, Managing Director of Tata Teleservices Ltd, said.

The company has so far launched its GSM services under the brand name Tata DoCoMo in 10 of India’s 22 telecom Circles.

Market watchers point out that any new operator is bound to attract more subscribers based on the offers extended. Reliance Communications, for example, got 5 million new subscribers in the first month of its GSM launch. Subsequently the net additions for RCom stabilised around the 2.5-million mark.

“Since more than 90 per cent of subscribers are on pre-paid there is no loyalty to any operator. About 40 per cent mobile users change their operator every year as consumers tend to move to new offerings just to try them out. This churn is magnified when a new operator dishes out sops to get critical mass of subscribers on its network. The challenge for any operator is to sustain growth over a long period of time,” said a market analyst.

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