Nearly 75 per cent of mobile subscribers in India's rural areas are now owned by private operators. State-owned Bharat Sanchar
Nigam was earlier considered the only significant rural telco.
According to TRAI data, nearly 21 per cent of mobile subscribers are now in rural areas. In September 2007, out of 209 million
mobile subscribers, 43 million were in rural areas.
Bharti Airtel, which had 48 million mobile users in September 2007, had 9.80 million subscribers coming from rural areas. Nearly
27 per cent of Vodafone Essar?s subscriber base is rural.
As the market in towns and cities matures, private telcos have initiated an aggressive rural roll-out. Circle C and Circle B States
like Bihar, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are showing higher growth rates than the metros.
The Government has set a target of 500 million telecom subscribers by 2010, of which about 200 million are expected to come
from rural areas. To futher this goal, it has made it attractive for telcos to enter rural areas. They can share infrastructure, and get
subsidy from the Universal Services Fund. Telecom equipment vendors have rolled out cheaper equipment for use in rural areas
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