Bharti Airtel facing tougher battle

SINGTEL's Indian associate Bharti Airtel may be facing keener rivalry as British telco Vodafone added 1.62 million mobile subscribers in India in June, closing in on Bharti Airtel as the market leader.

Trade news website Total Telecom yesterday reported that Vodafone accounted for a third of the Indian market's 4.77 million net additions in mobile connections in June, according to new figures from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

This puts Vodafone still in second spot as a mobile operator serving 169.9 million customers or 18.6 per cent of the Indian market, behind Bharti Airtel's 209.2 million connections, or 22.9 per cent share as at June.