Bharti Airtel quarterly revenue beats estimates – Times of India

BENGALURU: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd on Tuesday reported better-than-expected revenue for the third quarter, helped by tariff hikes and additions to its 4G subscriber base.
The company’s consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter ended December 31 climbed to $4 billion from $3.5 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected revenue of $3.9 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Airtel said its average revenue per user (ARPU) — a key performance indicator in the telecoms industry — was 163 rupees for the third quarter, up from 146 rupees a year ago.
The sector, which witnessed a fierce price war following the entry of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio in 2016, benefited from increased data usage during the Covid-19 pandemic as more people took to remote working.
Against this backdrop, Airtel in late-November increased tariffs on prepaid plans, as did Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, while reiterating that the industry’s mobile ARPU needs to be at 200 rupees, and eventually at 300 rupees, for a financially healthy business model.
On Tuesday, the telecom firm also reported a jump of 18.1% in 4G customers during the quarter to 195.5 million.