Only 5.7% of Jio users from rural areas: Trai

Idea has 54.8%, followed by Vodafone with 53.7%

Reliance Jio, which launched its fourth-generation technology (4G) telecom services on September 5 last year, has been mostly an urban phenomenon.

Of its 72.16 million subscribers by end-December 2016, only 4.12 mn or 5.72 per cent were from rural areas, in contrast to incumbent operators. 

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data for 2016 show Idea Cellular with the highest proportion of rural subscribers at 54.77 per cent followed by Vodafone with 53.68 per cent and Bharti Airtel at 48.42 per cent.

At the end of December, Idea had a subscriber base of 190.52 million, of which 104.35 mn were rural subscribers. Vodafone’s