Bharti Airtel, Hexacom ARPU Expected to Rise 15-17 Percent: Axis Capital

Report Highlights ARPU Growth, Subscriber Trends, and Fixed Wireless Broadband Momentum.

Highlights

  • Bharti Airtel and Hexacom expected to see the highest ARPU growth at 15–17 percent in 3QFY25.
  • Subscriber base impacts from tariff hikes have diminished; Bharti posts positive subscriber additions.
  • Fixed wireless broadband (FWA) shows increasing adoption, with Jio leading and Bharti catching up.

Follow Us

Bharti Airtel, Hexacom ARPU Expected to Rise 15-17 Percent: Axis Capital
Bharti Airtel and Hexacom are likely to experience the highest tariff transmission, with ARPU projected to increase by 15-17 percent compared to 1QFY25. Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (VIL) are anticipated to see ARPU growth of 12 percent and 11 percent, respectively. While there may be some limited residual benefits in 4Q, ARPU growth is expected to remain steady thereafter, driven by subscriber premiumisation, consistent with trends observed before the tariff hike, according to an Axis Capital report dated January 8, 2025.

Also Read: Bharti Airtel to Lead Telecom Revenue Growth in Q3 FY25: IIFL




Impact Post-Tariff Hike

Axis Capital anticipates continued benefits from the tariff hike in 3QFY25, although at a lower level than the previous quarter. "The trend of drop in subscriber base from the initial sticker shock of tariff hikes also appears to have waned," the report noted, adding, "Hexacom is expected to register the strongest EBITDA growth, followed by Bharti and Jio. VIL will be more muted, due to the lower tariff to ARPU transmission."

Impact on Subscribers Waned

According to the report, "The initial shock of the tariff hike has expectedly started to wane, as reflected in the October 2024 subscriber data trends disclosed by TRAI. Bharti saw positive subs adds after three months. Jio continued to see an overall subscriber decline, but it was accompanied by a rise in VLR proportion (indicating active subscribers), which implies churn/removal of inactive subscribers." The report added that there is further potential for subscriber declines for VIL in the coming quarters.

Also Read: Airtel Working on India’s First AI-Enabled Sovereign Cloud Solution

Fixed wireless broadband

Fixed wireless broadband (FWA), according to the report, "is seeing increasing traction, reflected in its accelerating subscriber adds. Jio took an early lead, though Bharti too has started to focus on it."

"Standalone Jio Platforms (JPL), which is primarily Jio's enterprise segment, should continue to see strong growth. Bharti's will continue to see muted growth in the segment," the report added, saying Jio's Enterprise growth remains strong.

Reported By

Kirpa B is passionate about the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence technologies and has a keen interest in telecom. In her free time, she enjoys gardening or diving into insightful articles on AI.

Recent Comments

Kiran Fernandes :

I support this. 500MHz in the 6GHz band with 4x4 MIMO and 4096QAM would give some staggering speeds for the…

Global Tech Firms May Challenge India's 6GHz Spectrum Decision in…

Sujata :

Airtel does the most, jio is most efficient in this case as per my own experience, don't have vi, can't…

Jio, Airtel, Vi and BSNL Asked by Govt to Trial…

Vijay :

Unless data boosters, we can do only data packs on top of voice sms packs right for internet purpose?

Jio Data Packs will Work on Top of SMS and…

Load More
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1 Comment
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments