Top 10 Largest Telecom Operators in World

This is a list of the largest telecom companies (operators) in world.

Largest Telecom Operators in World

1. AT&T - the former SBC merged with AT&T creating the new AT&T (USA)
2. China Mobile - formerly China state-owned, now still state-controlled, one of two mobile phone monopolies in the entire China.
3. Vodafone - Britain’s largest telecom operator.
4. Verizon Communications - US-based telecom company formed after a series of mergers.
5. Telefonica - Multinational company with stakes in Spain, Latin America and Europe. Owns the O² brand.
6. Deutsche Telekom - German telecom company, also owns t-mobile.
7. America Movil - Mexican operator controlled by the world’s richest man - Carlos Slim.
8. NTT DoCoMo - One of Japan’s telecom operators.
9. France Telecom - One of France’s telecom companies.
10. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone - Japan’s second largest telecom operator.

World’s Largest Telecom Companies

We have revised the above list and came up with another list of 15 top telecom companies in world according to the number of subscribers as of February, 2010.

Rank	Company Name	Subscribers
1	China Mobile	522 Million
2	Vodafone Group	333 Million
3	Telefonica	202 Million
4	AmericaMovil	201 Million
5	Telenor Group	172 Million
6	Deutsche Telecom	151 Million
7	China Unicom	148 Million
8	TeliaSonera	148 Million
9	France Telecom	133 Million
10	Bharti Airtel	125 Million
11	MTN Group	116 Million
12	Mobile Telesystems	102 Million
13	Reliance Communications	100 Million
14	Orascom Telecom	93 Million
15	AT&T	85 Million

Update: The 10.3 billion dollar deal between Bharti Airtel (the largest telecom service provider in India) & Zain makes it to the top 5 in the world. Before this deal, Bharti was at 10^th place among the top telecom companies (operators) in the world.

If you feel that there is a correction required in this list of largest telecom companies (operators) then you are most welcome to share your thoughts in the form of comments below.