India's leading private telecom company, Bharti Airtel on Friday (May 15) crossed the 100 million subscriber mark. While confirming the news, Airtel's chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal said that the achievement has reaffirmed the emergence of India as the world’s top telecom markets. A large chunk of Airtel's subscribers (about 60 percent) comes from rural areas.

 

Bharti Airtel has added 32.5 million subscribers to its base in the year 2008-09 with a monthly average of around 2.7 million subscribers. The company also created a record of sorts in January-March quarter, when the number of new subscribers went as high as 8.37 million. Airtel's success has come mainly because of focusing on the rural consumers.

 

According to Sunil Bharti Mittal, Airtel has incurred a 23 percent jump in profits at Rs.78.59 billion for the year ended March 31. India is now placed at the second position after China in terms telecom user base. The country now has 429.72 million telecom subscribers, both in the wireless and mobile segments. During the last fiscal, India experienced a record growth of 59.48 percent.