Two Indian GSM mobile operators, Bharti and Hutch, crossed a subscriber base of 1 million in Delhi, making it the cellular capital of the country. No other city can boast of even a single operator touching the 1-million mark.

With this achievement, Hutchison becomes the second operator in the country to cross 1 million subscribers in any circle. “We have been adding 50,000 to 60,000 customers every month for the last six months,” says Rajiv Sawhney, CEO, Hutchison (Delhi).

While Bharti has 1.3 million cellular subscribers, Hutch has just crossed 1 million subscribers in Delhi. Such a large subscriber base can spell bigger congestion problems for Delhites, already faced with clogged networks and slated bandwidths.

According to a report in The Times Of India, Hutch plans to invest Rs 250 crore in Delhi over the next one year to increase cell sites from 600 to 800; triple SMS handling capacity with the installation of new SMSCs (short message service centers) and enhance network capacity from 38,000 to 50,000 Erlang.

“This will not only cater to our current subscribers’ needs, but will also give us a headroom of 30-40 per cent for traffic growth,” boasts Sawhney.