Indian GSM carriers signed up a record 5 million users in November, boosting their base to beyond 100 million and making the country the third-biggest market for such services globally, a telecoms industry body said on Friday.

Call rates of as low as 2-3 U.S. cents a minute are luring customers in the world's fastest-growing wireless services market, where mobile phone ownership is still less than 14 percent in the billion-plus population.

The Cellular Operators' Association, which represents 9 carriers offering wireless services based on the widely prevalent Global System for Mobile communication, said 5.044 million users signed up in November, an increase from 4.727 million in October.

The GSM base rose to 100.7 million, behind Russia which has 152.2 million such users and China, which tops the list, with 401.7 million, the industry body said.

Overall, India's mobile user base, which also consists of CDMA customers, rose to 142.3 million. Carriers offering mobile services on the CDMA platform are yet to report numbers.