Bharti Airtel reported a strong start to FY2027, with consolidated revenue increasing 18 percent year over year to Rs 585.4 billion in the quarter ended June 30, 2026. EBITDA grew 19 percent to Rs 336.0 billion, while net income after exceptional items increased 37 percent to Rs 81.7 billion. The company invested Rs 133.9 billion in capital expenditure during the quarter, reflecting continued investments in 5G, fiber, broadband, enterprise connectivity and digital infrastructure.
Airtel’s total customer base reached 680.9 million, up 12.5 percent year over year, including 491.9 million customers in India and 189.0 million across Africa. India added strength through higher-value subscribers, while Africa continued delivering double-digit customer growth.
India mobile services remained the company’s largest business, serving 376.5 million subscribers. Monthly mobile ARPU increased to Rs 264 from Rs 250 a year earlier, supported by customer upgrades and increased data consumption.
Airtel’s postpaid subscriber base reached 30.0 million, while postpaid connections including IoT and M2M under Airtel Business surged to 112.8 million, up 58.3 percent.
Data customers increased to 303.2 million, including 301.8 million 4G/5G users, representing 80.5 percent of the mobile subscriber base. Total mobile data traffic jumped 36 percent to 31.1 billion GB, while monthly data usage per customer increased 27.7 percent to 34.4 GB.
Home broadband business continued to outperform. Airtel expanded its home broadband subscriber base by 33.9 percent year over year to 14.7 million customers across 1,653 cities. Although broadband ARPU moderated to Rs 523, the rapid subscriber expansion highlights sustained demand for Airtel Fiber and high-speed broadband services.
Digital TV services remained stable with 16.0 million customers. Digital TV ARPU stood at Rs 160, while IPTV services, introduced from Q4 FY2026, further strengthened Airtel’s converged digital entertainment portfolio.
Capex
Bharti Airtel significantly increased its capital expenditure during the first quarter of FY2027, investing Rs 133.86 billion (US$1.41 billion), representing a 61 percent increase from Rs 83.07 billion in the same quarter last year. Despite the higher investment, the company generated Operating Free Cash Flow of Rs 202.13 billion, reflecting continued cash generation alongside network expansion. Cumulative investments reached Rs 6.85 trillion, up 8 percent.
The majority of Airtel’s investment was directed toward its India business, where capital expenditure totaled Rs 96.98 billion (US$1.02 billion) during the quarter. The investments support expansion of the company’s 5G network, fiber infrastructure, fixed broadband services, enterprise connectivity, digital platforms, and passive infrastructure, while strengthening nationwide network coverage and capacity. India accounted for nearly 72 percent of the group’s total quarterly capex.
Airtel also accelerated investments across its Africa operations, where quarterly capex rose to Rs 36.88 billion (US$389 million) from Rs 10.34 billion a year earlier. These investments are aimed at expanding mobile broadband coverage, increasing network capacity, supporting data traffic growth, and scaling Airtel Money and digital services across its 14 African markets.
Airtel continued expanding its network infrastructure aggressively. Its optical fiber backbone increased to 542,570 route kilometers, up by more than 45,000 route kilometers year over year.
Network towers reached 347,491, while total mobile broadband base stations climbed to 1.20 million. The company now covers 97.4 percent of India’s population, operates across 835,011 non-census towns and villages, and has expanded Airtel Business’ international network with nine submarine cable systems.
In Africa, Airtel continued strong operational momentum with 189.0 million mobile customers. Mobile ARPU increased to US$2.7, while data revenue rose sharply as data customers reached 87.3 million and mobile data traffic surged 56.3 percent year over year. Airtel Money processed transaction value of US$61.0 billion, generating US$400 million in revenue from 56.5 million active customers, highlighting the growing contribution of digital financial services.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
