Vodafone Idea has reported a quarterly revenue of Rs. 110.2 billion, achieving a 4.9 percent increase year-on-year.
Vodafone Idea said the total subscriber base is 197.7 million, with 4G/5G subscribers reaching 127.4 million, an increase from 126.7 million in the previous year. Customer ARPU saw a 15 percent year-on-year increase, rising to Rs. 177 in Q1FY26 from Rs. 154 in Q1FY25.
Vodafone Idea’s mobility metrics show a gradual decline in its overall subscriber base from 210.1 million in Q1FY25 to 197.7 million in Q1FY26, reflecting challenges in the Indian telecom market. Postpaid subscribers, however, steadily increased over the same period, rising from 24.1 million to 26.6 million, signaling a shift toward higher-value users.
Vodafone Idea’s data subscribers remained relatively stable, hovering around 134–136 million, while 4G/5G subscribers grew modestly from 126.7 million to 127.4 million, indicating slow but steady adoption of advanced mobile services. The VLR subscriber count decreased from 188.3 million to 172.7 million, reflecting a reduction in active mobile connections.
ARPU
Revenue metrics indicate positive momentum, with blended ARPU rising from INR 146 to INR 165 and customer ARPU excluding M2M increasing from INR 154 to INR 177. Blended churn remained stable at around 4–4.5 percent, demonstrating consistent customer retention.
Capex
Vodafone Idea’s capital expenditure for the April-June quarter was Rs. 24.4 billion. Following the launch of 5G services in Mumbai in March 2025, the company has expanded its 5G network to 13 additional circles, and services are now available in 22 cities. Further expansion is planned for key cities across all 17 circles by September 2025.
In terms of 4G, Vodafone Idea has increased its population coverage to approximately 84 percent as of June 2025, up from approximately 77 percent in March 2024, with a target of reaching 90 percent. This expansion included adding over 4,800 new unique 4G towers and increasing 4G data capacity by approximately 36 percent, which resulted in a 24 percent improvement in 4G speeds.
Vodafone Idea strengthened its 900 MHz spectrum in 16 circles and deployed a total of approximately 516,200 broadband sites, including over 13,100 Massive MIMO sites and more than 12,300 small cells. These investments contributed to a significant reduction in subscriber decline, with a loss of only 0.5 million subscribers during the quarter, a 90 percent improvement compared to the previous two quarters.
Network coverage and infrastructure saw significant expansion. 2G coverage in terms of census towns and villages remained steady at 487,173, covering 91.3 percent of the population. 4G coverage expanded substantially from 337,681 to 395,827 towns and villages, increasing population coverage from 77.5 percent to 84.1 percent.
Total unique towers grew from 183,323 to 197,139, while total unique broadband towers rose from 170,813 to 189,229. Overall broadband sites increased significantly from 417,245 to 516,183, reflecting a strong focus on network capacity and broadband availability.
TelecomLead.com News Desk
