Airtel becomes fourth largest telecom operator in the world

Indian telco Bharti Airtel has become world’s fourth largest telecom operator, reports Press Trust of India, citing research firm Wireless Intelligence.

According to PTI, Airtel follows China Mobile (No 1, 683.08 million connections), Vodafone Group (No 2 386.88 million) and America Movil Group (No 3 251.83 million) in the top five.

Bharti Airtel currently has 250.04 million subscribers followed by Telefonica Group with 243.51 million.

Wireless Intelligence states in its “Mobile operator worldwide group global ranking by connections (Q2, 2012)’” report that Airtel is the only other telco in top ten apart from China telecom to move up in its ranking. It was earlier at the fifth spot.

While Airtel might have improved its ranking, Bharti’s mobile revenue at $3.04 billion in Q2 is much lower than the other operators in top five.

Other Indian telcos in the top 20:

  • Reliance Communications: 8 (same)
  • Idea Cellular: 14 (up three)
  • BSNL: 12 (down two)

Related: Airtel launches 4G LTE services in Pune

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