New Delhi: Spice Telecom, Punjab''s leading cellular service provider and North India''s largest circle operator, has crossed the half-a-million subscriber-base in Punjab. Spice has been recording a blistering growth rate year on year with a compounded average growth rate of over 122 per cent. Says Ashok Goyal, executive director, Spice Telecom Punjab: "Our growth has been carefully orchestrated and is on track with our business plan, which calls for a rapid market expansion. To put this in perspective we have registered a compounded average growth rate of 122 per cent since the end of the first year of our operations in 1998. With such a manifold increase Spice has once again proven that it is the growth engine of the cellular industry in Punjab and will continue to maintain its leadership position for times to come.

"Spice has constantly been breaking new ground with cutting-edge technologies and amazing advantages. We have always led from the front be it in terms of choice of services, world-class coverage, finest customer services or access of India''s largest roaming network. We are thankful to the people of Punjab for having chosen the true leader and thus having given us the impetus to constantly innovate."

In 2002 Spice Punjab had also recorded a phenomenal growth of 85 per cent, thus becoming the highest growth operator among the top 10 mobile operators in India. Demand for cellular telephone services has been rising sharply in the recent months. The latest subscriber data issued by the Cellular Operators Association of India showed mobile phone subscribers totalled 13.1 million in May 2003.