Indian telecom service providers added 1.14 million rural mobile phone customers in June to reach a total of 346.28 million users, a sequential increase of 0.33%, with No 1 carrier Bharti AirtelBSE 0.48 % gaining the most - 0.74 million.
Airtel has the largest base of rural customers at 110.25 million as of June, according to data shared by Cellular Operators Association of India, the association representing GSM operators including Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea CellularBSE 1.38 % among others.
Rural India has gained more prominence for telcos in terms of customer acquisition as millions of people in the hinterlands still do not own mobile phones, while at the same time urban markets face saturation with a customer possibly have more than one mobile connection.
For the month of June, Vodafone trailed Bharti with 99.27 million rural mobile subscribers while Idea Cellular came in close No 3 with 92.73 million users. Uttar Pradesh East circle has the maximum number of rural subscribers at 36.88 milllion, followed by Bihar at 36 million and Maharashtra at No 3 with 30.23 million users.
As per telecom regulator Trai data, which includes CDMA subscribers, rural India had about 416.95 million users as of May end, from a total of 421.9 million. In the month, about 2.38 million new users were added.
Rural subscribers made up 42.10% of the total subscribers as of May, of which while wireless subscribers had a 42.73% share.
