Bharti Airtel's Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Gopal Vittal, recently confirmed that the company is not looking to invest in expanding 4G capacity anymore. The investments will flow towards increasing 5G capacity and coverage. At the Q3 FY25 results, Vittal said that Airtel will deploy more 5G radios as more 5G devices come into its networks. Since not everyone in India has a 5G phone, the company is slowly increasing the radio count, as and when necessary. This allows Airtel to manage expenses and capex efficiently.
Read More - Jio, Airtel and Vi Cheapest Postpaid Plans
Vittal said that in the coming years, Airtel's capex as a percentage of revenue will continue to go down. This is because while the revenues will grow aided by growth in mobile revenues and homes business, the capex will moderate. The company has already moderated the overall capex in FY25 as it slowed down on the 5G rollout. Airtel's 5G is now present throughout India and is available for customers who recharge with prepaid plans that bundle 2GB daily data or more or subscribe to postpaid mobile plans.
Read More - Bharti Airtel First Recharge Coupons and Activation/Deactivation Rules
Airte's 5G user base stood at 120 million at the end of Q3 FY25. These are the subscribers that have at least once latched to Airtel's 5G network during the quarter. This number will very likely grow as more users connect to Airtel's networks with a 5G phone in the coming months and years. More affordable 5G phones are also now coming into the market with better specifications than before. This is because 5G chips are finally become more affordable than ever for OEMs (original equipment makers). Airtel wants to address the rising data demand from the 5G subscribers, as these are the company's more high-paying or premium customers.
