Airtel Says It Added 8.1 Million 4G Users in Q2, Posts Higher Revenue on Data Usage

Indian wireless carrier Bharti Airtel reported a 13 percent rise in second-quarter revenue on Tuesday, boosted by additions in its 4G subscriber base, higher data consumption, and stronger revenue per user.

The company's average revenue per user (ARPU) — a key performance indicator in the telecoms industry — came in at Rs. 153 for the second quarter, up from Rs. 143 a year ago. Rival Reliance Jio's ARPU for the same period was Rs. 143.6.

Airtel, the country's second-largest telecom firm by subscriber base, has benefited from higher user additions and a jump in data usage due to remote working trends during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It added 8.1 million 4G users in the second quarter from the previous quarter to touch 192.5 million subscribers — making it 60 percent of its overall customer case. Mobile data consumption, the company said, surged by 47.5 percent from a year ago.

The company had also undertaken some hikes in its tariffs earlier this year. In July, it scrapped the entry-level prepaid recharge of Rs. 49 and set the base plan at Rs. 79.

Airtel's consolidated revenue from operations was Rs. 28,330 crore for the quarter ended September 30, compared with Rs. 25,060 crore a year ago, according to its exchange filing. Analysts on average had expected revenue of Rs. 27,770 crore.

Its net profit for the second quarter was Rs. 1,130 crore, compared with a loss of Rs. 760 crore in the same period last year.

Airtel, during the quarter, had also said it would invest Rs. 5,000 crore to expand its data centre business to meet customer demand in and around India.

© Thomson Reuters 2021