Airtel reports fall in Sep quarter ARPU, growth in subscribers

NEWDELHI: Bharti Airtel reported a fall in its average revenue per user (ARPU) in the September quarter, with growth in its subscriber base outpacing revenue growth from mobile services in India.

Airtel recorded an ARPU of ₹128 in the September quarter, down from ₹129 in the June quarter. ARPU is the total revenue of an operator divided by the number of users, or connections, on its network.

Airtel’s revenue from mobile services in India was ₹10,811 crore in the three months ended September 30, up from ₹10,724 crore in the June quarter. Its subscriber base grew from 276.81 million in the preceding quarter to 279.43 million in the September quarter.

Reliance Jio also recorded a drop in ARPU in the September quarter. Its ARPU fell to ₹120 with 355.2 million users as of September end, from ₹122 with 331.3 million users as of June end. Vodafone Idea has not announced operational highlights or financial statements for the quarter.

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday also said that it has postponed the announcement of its financial results for the September quarter from October 29 to November 14, as the company awaits clarity on the recent Supreme Court verdict. It will also approach the department of telecommunications (DOT) for clarity on the total amount due. The company, thus, restricted itself to sharing the operational highlights for the quarter.

Last week, the top court upheld the government’s broader definition of revenue, on which it calculates levies on telecom operators, dealing a ₹92,000 crore blow to the telecom industry.