Shares of telecom service providers were trading sharply higher for the second consecutive day, outperforming weak broader markets as monthly subscriber addition numbers lifted sentiment, dealers and analysts said.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone''s India unit added 2.45 million mobile subscribers in May while fifth-ranked Idea Cellular gained 1.8 million users.

Further, there are circle-to-circle tariff hike plans for operators, in line with Tata DoCoMo's decision to hike rates in Tamil Nadu circle, the first in 12-18 months from any telecom operator in India, said a head of research at a local brokerage. At 2.58 a.m., shares of Bharti Airtel , Idea Cellular and Tata Tele (Maharashtra) were up 2-6 percent.