BSNL took the fight for market share in the cramped Indian telecom sector to its private sector competitors in September, adding more new subscribers to its network than both Airtel and Vodafone during the month.

BSNL added 2.28 million new users during the month, according to the latest data released by telecom regulator Trai.

BSNL was closely followed by new entrant Uninor, in terms of wireless subscriber additions in September. Uninor added 2.17 million users during the month, taking its subscriber base to 11.26 million.

Tata Teleservices followed, with 2.12 million users added during the month. Vodafone and Airtel notched up 2.04 million and 2.01 million new users, respectively, the data showed.

Idea Cellular and Aircel added 1.47 million and 1.60 million subscribers, respectively, in September, 2010.

Reliance Communications added two million new subscribers.

Another state-run firm, MTNL, added 28,216 new users during the month.

Overall, telecom operators in the country added 17.10 million subscribers in September this year, taking the total number of mobile users in India to 687.71 million.

According to data released by the telecom regulator, of the 687.71 million mobile subscribers, only 482.89 million users were listed as active subscribers in the Visitor Location Register (VLR) on September 30, 2010.

Recently, operators were asked to submit details on all VLR numbers to the government, since they provide details on active customers at any given point of time, excluding switched off and out of coverage area customers.

The decision was taken amid reports that the subscriber numbers reported by the operators were incorrect and did not give a true picture of the number of actual mobile users in the country.

The wireless subscriber base increased from 670.60 million in August, 2010, to 687.71 million by the end of September, translating into a growth of 2.55 per cent.

With this, the overall teledensity (telephones per 100 people) in India touched 60.99 per cent.

With a subscriber base of over 78 million users, BSNL enjoys a 11.39 per cent share of the wireless market in the country, where over 13 operators are jostling for space.

In the wireline segment, BSNL is the undisputed leader, with an over 74 per cent market share. However, its subscriber base has been significantly eroded in recent times. In September, its wireline subscriber base reduced by 237,745 users.

The wireline subscriber base declined to 35.57 million in September, 2010, from 35.77 million at the end of August, it said.

The total broadband subscriber base in India increased by 2.08 per cent from 10.08 million in August to 10.29 million in September, 2010, the data showed.