The number of mobile users in India has reached 13 crore with some 66 lakh new subscribers added only in the month of October. The number of people using GSM based mobile phones in the country has reached 9.6 crore, while people using CDMA mobile phones has reached 3.3 crore.

In the month of October, GSM mobile companies were able to add 47 lakh new users and CDMA mobile operators added 19 lakh new customers. Commenting on the growth, Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director General, Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI), an association of GSM operators said that the GSM industry and COAI are delighted at the continued upswing in the subscriber additions. "This growth is strong evidence of the fact that GSM continues to be the predominant technology choice of masses", said Mr Ramachandran.

In the GSM sector, the metro subscribers grew only by 2.9 per cent as compared to 6.3 per cent and 6.2 percent growth shown by in Category B and Category C circles. This shows that more and more people in smaller cities and in villages are buying the mobile phones. Within the Category B circles, MP and Haryana recorded the highest growth at 9.2 per cent and 8.8 percent respectively. Within the Category C circles, the highest growth was recorded by the North East (9.4 per cent) followed by Jammu and Kashmir (8.7 per cent). Category A circles witnessed a growth of 5.4 percent, in which AP recorded the highest growth of 6.9 percent followed by Maharashtra at 6.2 per cent. The metro subscribers grew by 2.9 per cent over the previous month. Kolkatta recorded the highest growth (2.9 per cent) followed by Delhi (2.8 per cent).

From the companies perspective, Reliance Communications added over 10 lakh CDMA subscribers in October taking its total subscriber base to 2.4 crore. Reliance was followed by Tata Teleservices, whose subscriber base reached over 93 lakh with the addition of 8.8 lakh subscribers in the month of October.

"With the Indian telecom sector experiencing robust growth, Reliance communications is confident to further enhance the current uptrend," said Mr S.P. Shukla, president (personal business) Reliance Communications. The cellular subscriber base of Bharti touched 2.86 crore, BSNL’s 2.20 crore, Hutch-Essar’s 2.12 crore and Idea’s 1.09 crore.

Far pavilions beckoning? Catch up with programmes offered by prestigious institutes at the two-day Education Worldwide India Fair-2006 organised at Hotel Pride from Sunday.

Displaying their wares (read programmes) at the fair would be universities from across globe, including Samudra Institute of Maritime Studies Lonavala, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies Dehra Dun, International Institute of Risk Management Hyderabad, International Centre for Management and India Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Thames University from UK Education Planners, Indian Air Force, and Education Worldwide Magazine. The fair will also have educational consultants liaising with institutes in UK, France, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, US, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Cyprus, Russia, New Zealand, China, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Besides overseas institutes, universities from different parts of the country like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir will offer a synopsis of programmes they offer.

To ease financing, various banks will set up stalls to provide educational loans to eligible and needy students. Oriental Bank of Commerce and Indian Bank will have counselling sessions to facilitate understanding and awareness about different education loans that students can avail.

Source: Expressindia.com