The COAI was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-profit, non-governmental society. The Association is dedicated to the advancement of modern communication through the establishment of a world-class cellular infrastructure and to delivering the benefits of affordable mobile communication services to the people of India.

COAI core membership, which includes all the private cellular operators currently stands at 7 members companies, namely - Aircel Group, Bharti Airtel Ltd., BPL Mobile Communications Ltd., Vodafone Essar Ltd., Idea Cellular Ltd., Spice Communication Ltd. & Reliance Telecom Ltd. operating 135 networks (of Public & Private GSM Operators) by covering over 8000 cities and towns and 1 lakh villages and serving over 217 million subscribers across the country.

Over the years COAI has emerged as the official voice for the Indian GSM Industry and interacts directly with Ministries, Policy Makers, Regulators, Financial Institutions and Technical Bodies It provides a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas between these bodies and Service Providers, who share a common interest in the development of cellular mobile telephony. COAI also collaborates with other Industry Associations, etc, with the objective of presenting an industry consensus view to the Government on crucial issues

COAI also interacts with various international organizations such as ITU, GSMA, UMTS, etc. as well as the Press & Media to ensure that the issues pertaining to the cellular industry are discussed, understood and debated on a wider platform. To this end, the COAI also collaborates with other Industry Associations, etc, with the objective of presenting an industry consensus view to the Government on crucial issues relating to the growth and development of the Indian Cellular Industry. www.coai.in