Is Spice Telecom really the 5th largest mobile service operator in India, when there already are other big 5?

Question

In a business story in 'The Tribune' newspaper (Dated 1 July 2008), it was mentioned that Spice Telecom is the fifth largest cell-phone service provider in India. How is this possible when there already are HUGE operators like- Reliance, Tata Indicom, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone (Hutch), BSNL, MTNL & Idea.

Is Spice Telecom larger than Tata Indicom or MTNL or Idea?

Answer 1

I don't think it is... there are actually AIRTEL, BSNL,IDEA,VODAFONE,RELIANCE,TATA INDICOM.....which are much larger than Spice....

Answer 2

The correct version on being the 5th largest Mobile Service operator in India is that the Idea Cellular, having bought the Spice Telecom, would be the 5th largest mobile service operator in India.

Quote “We will be a very strong No 5,” says Mr Birla. Unquote. For Idea Cellular, it means another 4.5 million of Spice Telecom to its current 26.14 million. Read http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Tele...

Therefore, the combined entity with Idea Cellular on its acquisition of Spice Telecom would make Idea Cellular the No. 5 in India.