Bharti Airtel, one of India’s leading telecom service providers, has shared its remarkable financial and operational highlights for the third quarter of 2023, shedding light on its substantial investments and impressive growth in both the Indian and African markets.
Total Capex of Bharti Airtel was Rs 9,206 crore during July-September 2023. Airtel India’s Capex for the quarter was Rs 7,778 crore. On the other hand, Airtel Africa’s Capex for the quarter was Rs 1,419 crore.
Airtel India Soars with Investments
In India, Airtel invested significantly in expanding its infrastructure to provide customers with enhanced network coverage. The company accelerated its capital expenditure (Capex), with an investment of Rs 56,856 million during the July-September quarter of 2023. Airtel India achieved this by adding 11,100 new telecom towers, bringing its total network tower count to 295,318, as compared to 253,998 towers during the same quarter the previous year.
The mobile broadband base stations also saw substantial growth, reaching 876,096, compared to 787,498 in the corresponding quarter last year and 852,650 in the previous quarter.
Airtel India’s 4G/5G data customer base expanded to 237.5 million, reflecting a QoQ growth of 7.7 million and a YoY increase of 27.2 million. Data traffic on its 4G and 5G network surged by 19.6 percent, reaching 15,749 million GBs, while mobile data usage per customer increased by 7.1 percent YoY to 21.7 GB/month.
Airtel India’s customer base stood at 342.3 million as of September 30, 2023, indicating a 4.4 percent increase compared to the same quarter the previous year. Voice traffic on the mobile network also witnessed an 8 percent growth, totaling 1,148 billion minutes during the quarter.
Airtel Africa Achieves Remarkable Growth
In Airtel’s African operations, the company continued to make significant strides. The network tower count in Airtel Africa increased to 33,144, up from 30,149 in the same quarter last year. The mobile broadband base stations also saw impressive growth, with 116,892 stations compared to 99,154 in the same quarter the previous year.
Airtel Africa reported a substantial increase in its data customer base, which grew by 11.2 million, reaching 59.8 million during the quarter, compared to 48.6 million in the same period the previous year. Data customers now constitute 40.5 percent of the total customer base, up from 36.1 percent.
The total data usage on Airtel Africa’s network experienced robust growth, increasing by 41.9 percent to 917.9 million GBs, compared to 647.1 million GBs in the same quarter last year. Data usage per customer also witnessed an increase of 16.1 percent, rising to 5.2 GBs from 4.5 GBs in the same quarter the previous year.
Airtel Africa’s total customer base grew to 147.7 million, reflecting a 9.7 percent increase compared to the same quarter last year. The total minutes on the telecom network also registered a growth of 15.4 percent, reaching 125.7 billion minutes, up from 109 billion.
Additionally, Airtel Africa’s Airtel Money platform showed remarkable growth, with the number of customers increasing by 23.1 percent to 36.5 million. The total value of transactions on the Airtel Money platform also witnessed substantial growth, with a 43.5 percent increase to $29 billion during the quarter, compared to $20 billion in the same quarter last year. Airtel Money revenue reached $212 million, reflecting a 30.5 percent increase.
Bharti Airtel’s strong performance in both India and Africa during the third quarter of 2023 underscores the company’s commitment to expanding and improving its services, benefiting millions of customers across these regions.
