Airtel MD Calls for Some More Tariff Repair, Highlights India’s Lowest ARPU Globally

Reported by Srikapardhi February 21st, 2025 at 04:49 pm

Airtel reports a strong Q3 FY2025, with rising ARPU, strategic customer upgrades, and a continued push for higher tariffs and premium services.

Highlights

Growth driven by feature phone to smartphone upgrades, prepaid to postpaid migration, and data monetisation.
Focus on international roaming expansion amid rising global travel.
Airtel’s 5G network serves 120 million users.

Bharti Airtel reported a strong Q3 FY2025 performance with a steady increase in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), reinforcing its push for higher tariffs and premium customer acquisitions. The telecom company recorded an ARPU of Rs 245, up from Rs 233 in the previous quarter, reflecting growth driven by a combination of tariff adjustments and others. "ARPU drivers on an underlying basis remain intact; these are basically feature phone to smartphone upgrades, prepaid to postpaid upgrades, data monetisation, and growth of international roaming," said Bharti Airtel's Vice Chairman and Managing Director (MD), Gopal Vittal, during the company's Q3FY25 earnings call.

Also Read: Bharti Airtel Growth Drivers Remain Intact: HSBC Global Research

ARPU Growth Strategy

Airtel's organic ARPU growth drivers remain intact. This means that even without tariff revisions, ARPU follows its trajectory, driven by the company's key strategies. According to Airtel's MD, these include:

Feature phone to smartphone upgrades – Encouraging feature phone users to shift or upgrade to 4G/5G networks or smartphones will expand Airtel's 4G and 5G customer base, commonly referred to as smartphone customers.
Prepaid to postpaid migration – Airtel is also focusing on migrating prepaid users to postpaid plans, targeting an estimated 80 million potential postpaid customers with bundled family offerings and premium benefits.
Data monetisation – Additionally, data monetisation remains a key priority, with Airtel users typically opting for 2GB per day with unlimited 5G plans and data packs to increase consumption. We have already discussed this aspect in our earlier story here.
International roaming – The company is also leveraging the growth of international roaming packs, capitalising on the rise in global travel to enhance revenue streams.

These efforts, combined with potential tariff revisions, are helping Airtel sustain ARPU growth, according to the company.

Also Read: Airtel CEO Says ARPU Drivers Remain Intact Post Tariff Revision

Tariff Hike Outlook

Gopal Vittal reiterated that India's ARPU remains among the lowest globally, necessitating further tariff corrections for industry-wide financial stability.

Also Read: Bharat Offers One of the Cheapest Mobile Data Rates Globally: DoT

"I want to underscore that ARPU in India continues to be the lowest globally. Tariff repair is needed some more for the industry to be financially stable and deliver reasonable returns on a sustained basis," Vittal highlighted.

With 120 million users on its 5G network and a strategic focus on high-value customers, Bharti Airtel appears well-positioned to drive sustained ARPU growth in the coming quarters.

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Srikapardhi Telecom Analyst

Passionately following the Indian #Telecom Industry for over a decade from Business, Consumer and a Technical perspective. My primary focus area is Consumer & Digital Experience.