According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India's Reliance Jio led the Indian telecom market in adding new wireless subscribers with 21.74 lakh (2.17 million) in March.
Bharti Airtel also expanded its operations to 38.98 crore and 389.8 million subscribers, adding 12.5 lakh new customers in March. This is another achievement for Airtel as the firm continues establishing its services in different parts of India, especially in rural areas where mobile phone use is rising.
That said, Vodafone Idea Limited, a third-largest player in the market, experienced a dip in subscribers. By March, the company had shed 5,41,000 users and its total number of users stood at 20,53,00,000 (205.3 million). This decline indicates the rising threat posed to Vodafone Idea by Jio and Airtel in customer loyalty.
However, the overall expansion of wireless subscribers was slightly up. The wireless subscribers in India at the end of March 2014 were 1,163.76 million, as against the earlier figure of 1,160.33 million at the end of February. Thus, the overall growth rate was .28 % only. Mobile subscriptions in urban areas declined by 0.26 %, while rural wireless subscriptions recorded a growth of 0.92%. This trend proves that the increase in mobile penetration in rural areas contributes to the telecom sector's development.
Overall, the number of rural subscribers has reached 531.18 million, while the number of urban subscribers is 632.57 million. The growing number of subscriptions in rural areas supplements the dwindling mobile usage in urban areas. It affirms that the rural telecom market remains a raison d'être for the growth of the telecom industry in India.
Based on the above analysis, TRAI's report comprehensively covers almost all the issues directly related to India's telecom market. The stability of Jio's market share and the gradual rise in Airtel's market position are coupled with the decline in Vodafone Idea's market position. Urban regions are somewhat saturated with mobile service usage. Still, as these service types continue to grow and penetrate deeper into rural regions, these areas provide even larger potential for future growth.