Bharti Airtel strengthened its dominance in the increasingly competitive Indian market during the previous fiscal year (ending 31 March 2009), reporting a 37 percent year-on-year rise in revenue (INR369.6 billion/US$7.4 billion) and a 26 percent increase in net income (INR84.7 billion/US$1.7 billion). It now claims a majority 24 percent share of India’s mobile subscriber base, with a total mobile user base of 93.9 million. “Our focus on rural penetration and customer affordability has been instrumental in delivering this strong growth,” noted Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director. “The India growth story continues and we expect revival of the economy in the second half of this fiscal year. I have no doubts that the telecom sector will lead the economic revival and Bharti Airtel will be at the forefront.” 

A Financial Times report notes that Bharti’s growth comes in spite of fierce competition. Reliance Communications is offering heavily discounted rates on its new GSM network and has set a target of becoming a top five global operator (by reaching 100 million subscribers) by the end of this year. However, Reliance posted a 3.3 percent fall in quarterly profit today as the costs of launching its GSM services weighed. It added a record 11.3 million subscribers in the first three months of the year after it expanded its GSM mobile operations to all of India, and said its net profit fell to INR14.54 billion (US$292 million) in its fiscal fourth quarter ended 30 March. Revenue rose 10 percent to INR57.98 billion. Meanwhile, a number of international groups – including Telenor of Norway, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, UAE’s Etisalat and Bahrain’s Batelco – have joined a flood of market entrants ahead of India’s issue of 3G licenses, expected sometime this year. With around 392 million subscribers, according to Wireless Intelligence, India is the second-largest mobile market in the world and the world’s fastest growing (in terms of net additions per month).