India hits one billion mobile phone subscribers

Booming: India's mobile phone subscriber base peaked to more than 1 billion users for the first time, data released by the telecom regulator showed.

NEW DELHI: India notched up its billionth mobile phone subscriber in October, the country’s telecoms regulator said, underscoring the importance of its fast-growing mobile market, the world’s second largest after China. 

Mobile phone subscriptions have boomed in India in recent years as aggressive cost-cutting by its 12 hyper-competitive operators has driven down prices, leading to some of the cheapest tariffs in the world.