7:30PM Mumbai - Idea Cellular revenue advanced 9.8% for the quarter ended December 2007.

Idea Cellular Limited, India''s leading GSM mobile services operator reported revenues during the third quarter ended December 31 2007 increased 9.8% to 17.1 billion rupees from 11.5 billion rupees in a year ago period, boosted by an expanding user base in the world''s fastest growing wireless market.

In its current 11 service areas of operation, Idea Cellular said its subscriber market share increased from 15.6% in a year ago period to 15.8% during the quarter under review.

The company said it added 2.38 million customers to end the quarter at 21.05 million customers, increasing its market share to 15.8 million customers.

Idea Cellular, part of conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, India''s first multinational corporation, said its net profit for the December quarter jumped to 2.4 billion rupees from 1.13 billion rupees a year earlier.

For the quarter, adjusted EBITDA advanced 11% from the year ago period.

Idea Cellular said it has received the green light to expand its network in the Mumbai and Bihar service areas in addition to receipt of spectrum to launch operation in the remaining districts in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (East).

The planned expansion will see the Idea Cellular nearly covering 70% of India''s telephony potential. Idea Cellular has 4 licenses to operate in 13 service areas in India.

With a customer base of over 21 million, Idea Cellular runs operations in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West) & Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh & Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra & Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Early this year, Idea Cellular established an independent tower company with top mobile operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone to share 70,000 tower units in India.

Bharti and Vodafone each own 42% in the venture, while Idea holds the remaining 16%.

Listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, Idea Cellular is capitalised to the tune of $13 billion.

The company has operation in more that 20 countries and is anchored by 100,000 employees from 25 different countries.

Declining call rates, cheaper handsets and expansion of networks into smaller towns and rural areas have seen Indian operators adding more than 60 million users in eight months to November.

India currently has 12 telecoms operators and 46 firms have put in more than 500 applications for licences to provide telecom services in some or all of the telecom service areas.