According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India?s (TRAI) annual report for 2010-11, Uninor gained the most mobile subscribers in the rural market in the financial year ending March 2011.
The company increased its market share of rural subscribers from 0.73 percent at the end of March 2010 to 2.51 percent at the end of March 2011.
Also, Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) increased its rural market share from 0.28 percent at the end of March 2010 to 0.86 percent at the end of March 2011.
Meanwhile, the market shares of Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar and Tata Teleservices Limited declined in the period under consideration. However, the total number of rural customers added by these companies increased during the year.
Bharti Airtel ended 2010-11 with the most rural subscribers, at 65.73 million, up from 48.09 million a year earlier. However, its rural market share dipped from 25.2 percent at the end of March 2010 to 24.03 percent by the end of March 2011.
Idea Cellular was the only incumbent service provider to gain rural market share in 2010-11. Its market share grew from 15.6 percent at the end of March 2010 to 16.8 percent at the end of March 2011.
The total rural mobile subscriber base grew from 190.88 million at the end of March 2010 to 273.54 million at the end of March 2011.
