Rural vs Urban Subscribers-March 2009 and March 2010

While the urban telecom market in India is saturating fast, rural telecom penetration has increased considerably. It grew
from 14.93 per cent in March 2009 to 24.29 per cent in March 2010.
The overall telecom subscriber base increased by 45 per cent from 429.72 million as of March 2009 to 621.28 million at
the end of March 2010. The share of rural in the total subscriber base increased from 28 per cent in March 2009 to 32.3
per cent in March 2010. Meanwhile, the share of urban subscribers came down from 71.5 per cent to 67.67 per cent.
The total rural telecom subscriber base stood at 200.81 million as of March 2010, marking a 64 per cent increase over
March 2009. The growth in rural telecom subscribers is dominated by the wireless segment. As of March 2010, the total
rural mobile subscribers stood at 190.88 million, constituting 95 per cent of the total rural subscriber base.
Circle-wise, Delhi had the highest urban teledensity at 172.49 per cent and Himachal Pradesh had the highest rural teledensity
at 52.53 per cent. Bharti Airtel accounted for the maximum rural penetration with 48.09 million rural subscribers,
followed by Vodafone Essar with 36.79 million.

Rural Vs Urban teledensity (as of March 2010) (%)
Quarter ended	Rural teledensity	Urban teledensity
March 2009	14.93	89.44
June 2009	16.61	95.05
September 2009	18.46	102.79
December 2009	21.16	110.96
March 2010	24.29	119.73

Rural Vs Urban subscribers (as of March 2010) (million)
Quarter ended	Rural subscribers	Urban subscribers
March 2009	122.21	307.51
June 2009	136.27	328.55
September 2009	151.81	357.22
December 2009	174.53	387.63
March 2010	200.81	420.47

Circle-wise rural vs urban mobile teledensity (as of March 2010) (%)
Circle	Rural mobile teledensity	Total rural teledensity	Urban mobile teledensity	Total urban teledensity
Andhra Pradesh	23.03	24.33	135.98	57.23
Assam	18.13	18.47	91.59	29.99
Bihar	14.21	14.65	122.82	30.07
Delhi	–	–	–	172.49
Gujarat	32.09	33.52	89.13	58.46
Haryana	37.56	39.37	94.38	59.70
Himachal Pradesh	47.79	52.53	288.16	79.35
Jammu & Kashmir	26.41	26.93	107.10	49.91
Karnataka	22.53	24.08	132.48	67.81
Kerala	35.50	44.65	171.51	80.36
Madhya Pradesh	15.00	15.41	85.66	35.28
Maharashtra (including Mumbai)	30.72	32.41	98.53	67.24
Northeast	24.48	25.36	92.45	43.22
Orissa	19.93	20.61	127.54	39.30
Punjab	39.00	42.20	114.97	75.44
Rajasthan	30.38	31.42	114.64	52.76
Tamil Nadu (including Chennai)	36.21	38.44	114.85	83.73
Uttar Pradesh (East and West)	17.84	18.24	99.93	37.37
West Bengal (including Kolkata)	23.74	24.44	103.12	48.91
All India	23.08	24.29	112.03	52.74

Operator-wise rural subscribers as of March 2010 (million)
Operator	Rural mobile subscribers	Rural wireline subscribers	Total rural subscribers
Bharti Airtel	48.09	–	48.09
Vodafone Essar	36.79	–	36.79
Idea Cellular	29.82	–	29.82
BSNL	25.26	9.76	35.02
RCOM	21.25	–	21.25
Aircel	14.00	–	14.00
TTSL	13.45	0.16	13.61
Unitech	1.40	–	1.40
SSTL	0.54	0.01	0.55
HFCL	0.001	–	0.001
Loop Mobile	–	–	–
S Tel	0.27	–	0.27
MTNL	–	–	–
Videocon Telecom	–	–	–
Etisalat DB	–	–	–
Total	190.88	9.93	200.81

While the urban telecom market in India is saturating fast, rural telecom penetration has increased considerably. It grew

from 14.93 per cent in March 2009 to 24.29 per cent in March 2010.

The overall telecom subscriber base increased by 45 per cent from 429.72 million as of March 2009 to 621.28 million at
the end of March 2010. The share of rural in the total subscriber base increased from 28 per cent in March 2009 to 32.3
per cent in March 2010. Meanwhile, the share of urban subscribers came down from 71.5 per cent to 67.67 per cent.

The total rural telecom subscriber base stood at 200.81 million as of March 2010, marking a 64 per cent increase over
March 2009. The growth in rural telecom subscribers is dominated by the wireless segment. As of March 2010, the total
rural mobile subscribers stood at 190.88 million, constituting 95 per cent of the total rural subscriber base.
Circle-wise, Delhi had the highest urban teledensity at 172.49 per cent and Himachal Pradesh had the highest rural tele-
density at 52.53 per cent. Bharti Airtel accounted for the maximum rural penetration with 48.09 million rural subscribers,
followed by Vodafone Essar with 36.79 million.