Vodafone beats Airtel to lead rural markets in IndiaKOLKATA

 Vodafone has for the first time overtaken Bharti Airtel to become the leading mobile phone company in rural India, according to the latest rural subscriber numbers collated by Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the industry body representing GSM operators.

The Indian arm of Vodafone, which recently tweaked its distribution model to boost sales in the villages, now has the biggest rural customer base at 82.24 million, a shade above Bharti Airtel, whose total rural customer base is for the first time a tad lower at 82.16 million.

Bharti Airtel, however, remains India's leading mobile phone company by revenue and customers. According to the latest COAI data, its total customer base as on March 31, 2013, stood at 188.20 million, translating in a 28.47% market share. Vodafone India's total customer base as on March 31, 2013 stood at 152.35 million, resulting in a 23.05% market share. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone's pan-India subscriber base grew by 0.84% and 1.65% respectively in March.

GSM operators collectively added 5.35 million customers in March and the pan-India GSM customer base on April 1 stood at 660.94 million.

Vodafone India added 4.9 million rural customers during February and March 2013, stealing a march over its closest rivals Bharti Airtel (2.57 million) and Idea Cellular (2.75 million), according to the latest COAI rural customer growth numbers reviewed by ET. More than 50% of the company's 152 million customers live in rural areas. Bharti Airtel declined to comment on slipping to second place behind Vodafone in the pan-India rural customer base parameter. "We are in our silent period and would therefore not be able to comment," said a company spokesman.

Vodafone India has maximised rural customer acquisitions in Tamil Nadu, UP-East, UP-West, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan in March through a mix of customised product launches and is exploring ways to boost mobile internet adoption levels in villages. In a recent internal presentation to the company's leadership, its chief operating officer Sunil Sood said, "Vodafone is making a huge thrust into rural India, which holds a lot of potential since the urban subscriber base for voice has plateaued out." But Sood cautioned that a telco needs to target rural customers "with more practicality" since it is tough to sell something outside their interest area.

"Since rural budgets are limited, they have different ways of consumption and, more importantly, seek trust when it comes to day-to-day things such as top-ups, fixing faulty sim cards and recharges," said Sood. This was one of the key reasons why the British telco chose to distribute mobile products in Indian villages through people representing local panchayats with good contacts within a village. Alternately, it has also been relying on the persuasive skills of women to boost sales, by deploying droves of female retailers, or "fetailers" to shore up business volumes in rural markets in Haryana.

During the first three months of calender 2013, GSM operators collectively added over 10 million rural customers. The total GSM customer base in rural India as on April 1 stood at 262.53 million, translating in 4.4 million additions in March alone. 

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