Bharti Airtel's subscriber base crosses 300 mn

Bharti Airtel's total subscriber base has crossed 300 million, with the New Delhi-based company garnering users across mobile, fixed line, DSL and DTH services.

DSL or digital subscriber line is a family of technologies providing internet access over telephone networks, while DTH or direct-to-home is a television service.

Airtel, which began operations in 1995, reached the 100 million customers mark in 2009 and crossed the 200 million mark in 2012. The latest 100 million customers have joined the Airtel family in less than two years, it said in a statement.

The company ranks as the fourth-largest mobile service provider globally and second-largest globally outside of China.

''This milestone underlines the strength of our operations, which is one of the largest on a global scale. It is also a tribute to the Airtel brand which is trusted by customers in 20 countries, making it the largest global consumer brand out of India.

Today, telecom is at the cusp of transformation, which, going forward will be driven as much by the force of technology as by the changing demographics in emerging markets across Asia and Africa,'' said Gopal Vittal, managing director and CEO (India and South Asia) Bharti Airtel.

''Accelerated data consumption by the youth is going to be the underlying story. I am confident that Airtel will continue to be at the forefront of this future growth story and continue to delight customers by adding value to their lives,'' Vittal added.

Bharti Airtel, which had launched 4G services in 2012, is the largest telecommunications company in India by customers and revenue.

In Africa, Bharti Airtel is the largest mobile operator in the continent in terms of geographical footprint, which spans 17 countries with over 70 million customers.

Airtel's mobile networks cover over 1.85 billion people across 20 countries and carries more than 311 billion minutes of calls every quarter.