Reliance Jio is gradually gaining subscribers in the rural areas, primarily on the back of Jio phones and a bigger network in remote areas.

The percentage of rural subscribers in the company’s overall base has jumped to over 32% in the September quarter of 2018 compared to just 4.25% two years ago when the company launched its commercial services.

Although Jio’s share in rural India is smaller compared with incumbent operators like Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, it has surpassed state-run BSNL.

In the July-September 2018 period, Vodafone Idea had the highest percentage of rural subscribers at 52.97%, followed by Airtel at 49.30%. Jio is third in terms of rural subscribers with 32.04% against BSNL’s 31.11%, data shared by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India showed.

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According to analysts, the popularity of Jio phone – which is touted as a smart feature phone – in rural areas is one of the main reasons for increase in subscribers. Also, the telco has expanded its network coverage to over 90% of the country’s population.

A company insider said that Jio phone is a popular product at compelling price point. The phone is priced at Rs 1,500 but the net cost to the consumer is actually nil if one takes into account the cashbacks over a period of time. The Jio Phone doubles up as radio and TV for rural folk. The company has ventured into many villages where there was no communication facility.

In fact, the company installed a telecom tower at Tadoba national park, the tiger reserve in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. The park was network deserted for many years and villagers had to travel about 5-6 km to even make a phone call.

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Another village in Maharashtra where Jio has provided telecom connectivity was Tikhol. The village, situated at a hilly area in Ahmednagar district, has not seen telecom connectivity since Independence. The operators were not very keen to set up towers in the area due to low revenue potential and hilly terrain.

Arun Thange, village chief, wrote a letter to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani to provide connectivity, and after that a tower was erected in the village. Currently, the tower is having over 300 GB data consumption per day.