Bharti Airtel is looking to increase its market share by expanding into rural markets. In order to increase its subscriber market share, the telecom service provider plans to expand into 60,000 potential villages where it can provide 4G services to the customers.
“Airtel is not present in 60,000 high-potential villages. We believe the time has come to expand into these areas. This expansion will provide the company with a reasonable market share and a tailwind. We’re using sophisticated data science to determine in which areas we really need to roll out our services,” a senior official from Airtel said.
The company is picky about where it does business. So, if they are bringing services to a village, they have already determined that it has the potential to generate profits for them. Airtel intends to expand into rural areas in order to increase smartphone penetration and add more active paying subscribers. Airtel has identified approximately 40,000 high-potential clusters of communities in these 60,000 high-potential villages.
The telecom service provider has already deployed 5G in nearly 113 cities and plans to expand further by the end of March 2023. The telecom service provider provides 5G at no extra cost to 4G customers. Airtel would also be able to upgrade its 4G networks in rural India to 5G while requiring fewer sites because it is deploying 5G NSA.
According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, Airtel had a 32.16 per cent market share in the wireless subscriber segment as of December 31, 2022.
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