Sunil Mittal stuns Mukesh Ambani! Airtel’s ARPU increased more than Jio by…, its revenue market share gap…

Bharti Airtel’s focus on strategic pricing, subscriber acquisition, and operational efficiency has significantly narrowed the RMS gap with Reliance Jio.

Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator, has significantly reduced the wireless revenue market share (RMS) gap with market leader Reliance Jio by nearly 300 basis points over the past two quarters. Analysts attribute Airtel’s improved performance to strong Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth as compared to Mukesh Ambani led Jio.

Airtel Gets Tariff Hikes Benefits

Motilal Oswal’s research highlighted Airtel’s gains, noting that the company has gained more due to July 2024 tariff hikes, which contributed to a 90% incremental margin in its India wireless business compared to Jio’s 49%. Airtel’s ARPU grew by Rs 35 over two quarters,  which is higher than Jio’s Rs 20 growth.

In percentage terms, Airtel’s ARPU rose by 18% year-over-year, leaving behind Jio’s 11.9% growth. The third-quarter ARPU for Airtel stood at Rs 245, more than Jio’s Rs 203 for the same period. Airtel’s strategic decision to revise its 5G access entry-level plans, setting the minimum at Rs 649, also played a crucial role in boosting revenue.

Airtel 4G Transition And Subscriber Gains

Between October and December 2024, Airtel added 4.9 million subscribers, surpassing Jio’s 3.3 million gains during the same period, as per ICICI Securities. Additionally, Airtel recorded a significant 6.5 million 4G subscriber addition, due to its focus on users from 2G to 4G and also an increase in postpaid subscriber base, which grew by 13.1% year-over-year.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reported that while both Airtel and Jio lost users initially due to tariff hikes, Airtel regained by adding 1.9 million subscribers in October 2024, whereas Jio lost 3.8 million users. At the same time, BSNL gained subscribers for the fourth consecutive month, reaching 92.4 million users.

Airtel’s Profitability And Revenue Growth

Motilal Oswal’s report revealed that Airtel’s India wireless business has achieved profitability levels comparable to Jio’s, despite Jio benefiting from home broadband earnings. Airtel’s mobile revenue in Q3 FY25 surged by 21.4% year-over-year and 5.8% quarter-over-quarter, compared to Jio’s 15.5% year-over-year and 3.4% quarter-over-quarter growth.

Analysts expect Airtel to continue its strong growth trajectory, driven by further tariff increases, expansion in the broadband segment, and robust performance in its Africa operations.