Vodafone, Airtel, Jio: winners and losers in Indian rural market

Vodafone Idea’s loss of mobile phone subscribers across India shows that its main focus has shifted to urban areas from rural markets.
Jio Airtel Vodafone subscribers in rural India

LOSER: VODAFONE IDEA

The mobile phone subscriber base of Vodafone Idea on its 2G, 3G and 4G network platforms has reached 383.411 million in June 2019 from 394.837 million in March 2019 and 443.331 million in June 2018.

The loss of mobile phone customers in rural markets was more visible. The main strategy of Vodafone Idea was in the strengthening of its focus on profitable circles. Investment in rural connections does not generate high ARPU to telecom operators.

Rural subscriber base of Vodafone Idea has nosedived to 199.149 million in June 2019 from 207.146 million in March 2019 and 238.725 million in June 2018.

Urban subscriber base of Vodafone Idea dropped to 184.262 million in June 2019 from 187.691 million in March 2019 and 204.606 million in June 2018.

WINNERS: AIRTEL AND JIO

TRAI reports for March 2019 and June 2019 show that Vodafone Idea, which completed the merger, has lost mobile connections in all circles in India. Vodafone Idea and key rival Bharti Airtel aim to remove less ARPU customers from their network.

Airtel India’s rural subscriber base decreased to 143.000 million in June 2019 from 149.144 million in March 2019 and 171.532 million in June 2018.

Airtel India’s subscriber base in urban markets increased to 177.353 million in June 2019 from 176.036 million in March 2019 and 173.031 million in June 2018.

Reliance Jio’s mobile connections on its 4G network platform in rural India, on the other hand, increased to 128.016 million in June 2019 from 116.320 million in March 2019 and 62.679 million in June 2018.

Reliance Jio’s mobile subscriber base in urban locations reached 203.239 million in June 2019 from 190.422 million in March 2019 and 152.576 million in June 2018.

Vodafone Idea performance in select markets

Vodafone Idea’s mobile connections in Andhra Pradesh dropped to 21.546 million in June 2019 from 22.283 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea’s mobile connections in Bihar declined to 19.836 million in June 2019 from
20.887 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea increased its mobile connections in Delhi to 19.042 million in June 2019 from 18.983 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea’s Gujarat circle has lost subscribers to 30.758 million in June 2019 from
31.642 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea has lost subscriber in Haryana to 10.387 million in June 2019 from 10.605 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea’s dip in subscriber base in Karnataka was marginal with subscriber base reaching 14.197 million in June 2019 from 14.931 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea, the leading mobile service provider in Kerala, has lost some customers. Its mobile user in Kerala reached 20.199 million in June 2019 from 20.249 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea has 28.465 million customers in Madhya Pradesh in June 2019 as compared with 29.061 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea’s mobile customer base fell to 44.465 million in Maharashtra in June 2019 from 45.872 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea’s mobile customer base in Mumbai dropped to 14.973 million in June 2019 from 15.224 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea’s mobile customer base in Rajasthan decreased to 16.224 million in June 2019 from 16.662 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea’s mobile customer base in Tamil Nadu including Chennai fell to 23.497 million in June 2019 from 24.207 million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea has 33.500 million mobile customers Uttar Pradesh East in June 2019 from
33.836  million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea has 28.434 million mobile customers in Uttar Pradesh West in June 2019 from 28.936  million in March 2019.

Vodafone Idea has 23.083 million mobile customers in West Bengal in June 2019 from
25.269 million in March 2019.