GSM Adds 4.2 Million Subscribers In August; How Much Is The Churn?

The number of GSM subscribers in India increased to 86.6 million in July from 82.4 million by the end of August, with 4.2 million subscribers signing up during August, beating their previous record of March 2006. Signups in Category B circles grew at 7 percent, with UP(West) and MP recording 13 percent growth. Category A circles grew 5 percent, and Category C at 5.6 per cent. [The Hindu]
The report claims that this growth means that the government regulations requiring subscriber verification have not had an impact. With GSM handsets not affixed to operators in India, while the switch from GSM might be minimal, verification could have made consumers switch from one GSM operator to another.
My personal experience: verification has me on the verge of switching from Airtel. After having resubmitted all documents, meticulously compiled, a month ago, I received a few messages in August for submitting documents. On Saturday, I was told to resubmit all the documents because the person who came for physical verification could not locate my house, a three-minute walk from a major landmark. I had also been told, first, that I had submitted incomplete documents, then that my documents were misplaced during processing, and finally that “there is a problem with the software”. They weren’t sure of anything.
I wonder what the figures are like for churning.
Related:
Reliance Communications Applies For GSM Spectrum In 21 Circles
Telecom Numbers From Rural India
Indian Mobile Subscriber Base Reaches 111.23M; Broadband Inches Upto 1.7M

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