Telecom operators in the country added 16.3 million new subscribers in May this year, taking the total number to 653.92 million, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said today.

According to data released by the telecom regulator, the wireless subscriber base increased from 601.22 million in April to 617.53 million by the end of May 2010, registering a growth of 2.71 per cent.

With this, the overall teledensity (telephones per 100 people) in India touched 55.38 per cent.

The growth in the wireless category was led by Bharti Airtel, which added three million users to take its subscriber base to 133.6 million users.

Vodafone added 2.59 million subscribers in May 2010, taking its user base to 106.3 million. Idea Cellular and Aircel, on the other hand, added 1.43 million and 1.60 million new users respectively.

Reliance Communications added 2.8 million new subscribers while Tata Teleservices added 2.32 million users in May 2010.

State-run telcos BSNL and MTNL added 1.05 million and 39,811 new users respectively.

The wireline subscriber base declined from 36.83 million to 36.39 million by May-end, it said. State-run firms BSNL and MTNL hold 84.32 per cent of the wireline market share.

The total broadband subscriber base increased 2.67 per cent from nine million in April to 9.24 million in May 2010, the data showed.