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Jio Set to Surpass Airtel in ARPU Growth!
business update, Equities, Market News - July 7, 2025

Jio Set to Surpass Airtel in ARPU Growth!

Jio Set to Surpass Airtel in ARPU Growth!

Reliance Jio’s average revenue per user (ARPU) is projected to rise by 1.8% to ₹210 in the June quarter, outpacing Bharti Airtel’s growth of 1.6% to ₹249 as competition intensifies.

Summary:
Jio is expected to outpace Airtel in ARPU growth for Q1 FY26, with an anticipated 1.8% quarter-over-quarter increase to ₹210, while Airtel is projected to see a 1.6% rise to ₹249. This signals Jio’s competitive advantage in driving incremental revenue amid a maturing telecom market, bolstered by strong 5G adoption and robust subscriber additions.

India’s telecom sector is bracing for another wave of fierce competition, with recent projections from JM Financial suggesting that Reliance Jio may surpass Bharti Airtel in average revenue per user (ARPU) growth in the first quarter of FY26. The research firm anticipates that Jio’s ARPU will increase by 1.8% quarter-on-quarter to reach ₹210 in the quarter ending in June, while Airtel’s ARPU is expected to grow by 1.6% to ₹249.
These figures, although seemingly marginal, are of considerable importance in India’s hyper-competitive telecom industry, where ARPU is a key profitability metric and a proxy for consumer stickiness, pricing power, and overall service monetisation.

Jio’s Strategic Advantage
Jio’s ARPU growth highlights its aggressive expansion strategy. As India’s largest telecom operator by subscriber base, Jio has focused on delivering affordable, high-speed data to a massive user population, while also gradually migrating subscribers to premium data packs and 5G plans.
Over the past year, Jio has expanded its 5G services in major Indian cities and semi-urban areas, encouraging user upgrades to higher data plans. The integration of JioFiber, JioAirFiber, and its content platforms like JioCinema and JioTV has created strong cross-selling opportunities, boosting average revenue per user (ARPU). Analysts attribute Jio’s ARPU growth to its balanced pricing strategy, which appeals to both budget-conscious consumers and those seeking premium upgrades as they adopt 5G devices.

Airtel Remains Strong but Faces a Tougher Climb
Bharti Airtel, which is Jio’s nearest competitor, is anticipated to report an ARPU of ₹249 in Q1 FY26, indicating a sequential increase of 1.6%. Although Airtel’s ARPU remains higher than Jio’s in absolute figures, its growth trajectory is expected to slow down a bit.
Airtel has long benefited from a relatively premium user base, with higher postpaid penetration and strong traction in enterprise services, leading to a structurally higher ARPU compared to Jio. However, incremental growth may be more challenging for Airtel because its customers already pay comparatively higher tariffs, limiting headroom for sharp pricing increases.
Airtel’s strategy prioritises premium subscribers and quality service through network upgrades and a better customer experience. While this has fostered loyalty among higher-paying customers, it has slowed ARPU growth compared to Jio, which focuses on upselling entry-level and mid-tier users.

Industry in Transition
The ARPU growth story comes at a time when India’s telecom market is undergoing a transition from 4G to 5G, a move seen as critical to sustaining revenue growth in a maturing market where subscriber growth has plateaued.
For operators like Jio and Airtel, growth in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is crucial to support their large investments in 5G and infrastructure. After significant spending in auctions and deployment, increasing ARPU is the next logical move. Analysts suggest that future ARPU growth will rely on tariff hikes, adoption of premium plans, and the development of 5G use cases such as gaming, IoT, and cloud services.

Regulatory Watch
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors tariff structures and service quality closely. While modest price increases are acceptable, excessive hikes may face regulatory scrutiny. Jio and Airtel balance affordable pricing with growth, but continued regulation is expected to keep ARPU increases fair for consumers.

Investor Perspective
From an investor standpoint, the projected ARPU trajectories reflect confidence in the sector’s resilience and growth amid high capital expenditure cycles. Jio’s anticipated 1.8% ARPU gain is being read positively, as it suggests more substantial revenue per user momentum on the back of widespread 5G adoption and subscriber upgrades.
Airtel, despite its high ARPU, faces concerns from investors about balancing growth and customer retention among price-sensitive users. As the ARPU gap between Jio and Airtel shrinks, analysts believe Jio might enhance its market leadership through pricing strategies and a robust service ecosystem.

What to Watch Ahead
The June quarter numbers, when officially reported, will offer deeper insights into how each operator is managing its user monetisation strategies in a cooling subscriber acquisition environment. Further, market watchers will closely examine how 5G adoption translates into new revenue streams beyond simply faster data, such as connected home services, AR/VR entertainment, and industrial IoT applications.
If Jio maintains its current ARPU momentum, it could strengthen its position as India’s telecom leader, using its diverse platform to boost per-user revenue. Meanwhile, Airtel must innovate premium offerings and enterprise partnerships to maintain its higher ARPU while achieving incremental growth. In a capital-intensive industry with thin margins, these ARPU changes can significantly impact cash flows and valuations. As the Indian telecom sector prepares for future growth, ARPU will be a key metric for analysts, investors, and regulators.

Conclusion
The competition for ARPU dominance in India’s telecom sector is still ongoing. As Jio positions itself to outpace Airtel in quarterly ARPU growth, the stage is set for a fierce race to monetise 5G investments while sustaining subscriber trust and competitive pricing. With consumer data consumption at record highs and next-generation services around the corner, the ARPU trends of FY26 could define who emerges strongest in India’s telecom story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Airtel in no rush to implement 5G network

Airtel in no rush to implement 5G network 

 

Overview of 5G market in India

The Indian 5G market is expected to develop at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.8% from 2023 to 2031, from its 2022 valuation of USD 7,065 million to USD 1,78,546.1 million by 2031. India is the fourth largest market for 5G phones, with a 14% share in the June quarter, according to reports. India is currently in the early stages of adopting consumer 5G services, with 18% of mobile customers expected to use the technology by 2025.

 

Speaking about the landscape of 5G services in the Indian telecom sector, Jio has the largest 5G client base whereas, Airtel’s 5G network is now accessible in a number of states, with ambitions to extend nationwide soon. Additionally, Vodafone Idea plans to deploy its 5G services in the near future.

 

Reliance Jio, India’s telecom market leader, is the only telco that has chosen a 5G SA network – in which all of its infrastructure or cell sites broadcast solely 5G signals – from the start, in 2022, after investing in efficient but expensive sub-GHz 5G airwaves in the 700 MHz range. Airtel, on the other hand, chose a non-standalone 5G network that makes use of existing 4G network infrastructure and airwave resources, resulting in far lower capital expenditure than Jio.

 

Recently, Bharti Airtel has announced plans to move its 5G services to a standalone (SA) network in one or two cities within three years, albeit they would continue to use non-standalone (NSA) mode due to high 4G traffic. The shift’s goal is to use mid-band spectrum and create sustainable monetization applications for 5G technology.

 

Airtel to delay 5G Standalone

Bharti Airtel plans to transition its 5G services to a standalone (SA) network from the non-standalone (NSA) mode in one or two cities over the next three years. However, India’s second-largest telco still has a high volume of traffic on its 4G bands and that switching modes provides no tangible benefit to subscribers.

 

The executive lamented that, even after three years of debut, 5G has yet to generate any new revenue streams for telecom operators in India or elsewhere in the world, with speed remaining the only differentiation from 4G.

 

Reasons for delaying boarding the 5G wagon

Transitioning to SA involves a considerable expenditure, estimated at Rs 30,000-40,000 crore, primarily for the acquisition of sub-GHz spectrum. Airtel prefers to wait for 4G spectrum bands to progressively clear as traffic shifts to 5G.

 

Furthermore, 5G network utilization is currently low, with Airtel focusing on expanding its 4G network to convert remaining feature phone users to smartphones. This poor utilization does not justify the immediate deployment of 5G infrastructure. In terms of technological and strategic factors, Airtel is deploying non-standalone (NSA) 5G infrastructure that uses current 4G infrastructure. This arrangement is inexpensive and enables devices to smoothly move between 4G and 5G networks. Airtel intends to move to SA over the next three to four years as demand grows and more people upgrade from 4G.

 

In terms of monetization challenges, 5G services now have limited monetization prospects, making rapid expansion less appealing. Airtel is pushing the conversion of 4G consumers to 5G services, which cost more. Airtel plans to transition its Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) services to SA by December 2024, adopting a deliberate approach to deploy SA for certain use cases rather than a full-scale implementation.

 

Thus, currently, SA has no benefits for Airtel as there are no applications that capitalize on the technology. It was anticipated that in three years, networks would emerge in one or two places with plenty of spectrum and increasing traffic with customers not likely noticing the difference between SA and NSA.

 

                                                   

 

 

The image added is for representation purposes only

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Bharti Airtel had another solid quarter.

Bharti Airtel had another solid quarter.

Bharti Airtel reported a 466% surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,607 crore for the quarter ending June 30, 2022, boosted by subscriber additions. It reported a net profit of Rs 284 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s consolidated revenue from operations rose 21% to Rs 32,805 crore in Q1FY23 as compared to Rs 27,064 crore in Q1FY22. In India, mobile services revenue increased 27% year on year to Rs 18,220 crore in the first quarter, up from Rs 14,305.6 crore. The digital TV customer base stood at 17.4 million in Q1FY2023.

Acquisition of 5G will raise the bar for innovation.

The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) was Rs 183 in Q1FY23, against Rs 146 in Q1FY22. The ARPU of rivals Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea for the same period was Rs 175.7 and Rs 128, respectively. The business continued to grow exponentially, up 41.9% YoY, led by healthy customer additions. The company mentioned in November that mobile ARPU needed to be at Rs 200 and ultimately at Rs 300 for a financially healthy business model.

The company continued to deliver strong and sustained growth at 4.5% QoQ. The EBITDA margins were at 50.6%. The enterprise and home businesses have strong momentum and delivered strong double-digit growth, improving the diversity of the overall portfolio. Airtel’s strategy of winning with quality customers continues to yield well.

As India gets ready to launch 5G, they are well positioned to raise the bar on innovation. They are also confident in meeting the emerging needs of discerning customers looking for speed, coverage, and latency. The astute spectrum strategy over the last few years, as they have bolstered the mid-band spectrum, is designed to deliver the best experience at the lowest total cost of ownership. The firm’s 4G customers rose by 20.8 million YOY and by 4.5 million QOQ. Mobile phone data consumption rose by 16.6% YoY. Monthly consumption per mobile data customer was 19.5 GB.

Airtel will lead India’s 5G revolution by acquiring an ideal spectrum bank at the lowest possible cost for the best 5G experience and 100x capacity enhancement; purchased 19,867.8 MHz spectrum in the recently concluded 5G spectrum auction for Rs 43,040 crore;

The company has been raising money to fund its digital ambitions, including developing home broadband, data centers, and cloud adoption as it prepares to launch its next-generation 5G services in the country.

Valuations:

The EPS in the June quarter was Rs. 2.73, compared to Rs. 3.41 in the March quarter and 0.48 in June 2021. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 86.2x. The EBITDA was at 9.13x with an ROE and ROCE of 12.0% and 5.86%. The company has a low-interest coverage ratio of 1.75x. The stock was trading at Rs.740 on September 5th, up by 0.63%.

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Airtel signs deal with Nokia as they prepare for 5G era

Airtel signs ₹7,636 crore deal with Nokia to get ready for 5G era

The high demand and growing usage of internet has made Bharti Airtel to adopt the strategy of signing a deal with Nokia for the 5G era and helping India to further digitize. Bharti Airtel is the leading telecommunications company with their business expanding in 18 countries. Nokia Corporation is the innovative global leader in 5G and is mainly into the business of telecommunications, consumer electronics, etc.

 

Why Airtel signed a deal with Nokia?

Bharti Airtel and Nokia Corporation are coming together to enhance the capacity of 4G network. This will help to prepare for the 5G era. For this, Airtel has signed a $1 billion deal (Rs 7,636 crore) with Nokia Corporation. It is done to meet the increasing demand for high speed data. It will also show the growing consumption of people for broadband. Bharti Airtel’s CTO Randeep Sekhon said to media that there is a need for up-gradation of the transport network to cater the increasing demand of mobile broadband services.

Nokia said to media that this solution can enhance the performance of the existing network of Airtel. It will also help to be ready to cater the future demands. The multi-year agreement is to arrange Nokia’s SRAN solution in India. It will help Airtel in increasing the performance of their existing network in 4G. It will also act as a base for 5G connectivity in India.

 

Benefits of the deal:

By using 5G technology, customers can easily and quickly download heavy contents such as movies and games within a few seconds. The usage of wireless technologies will be increased by 5G. It will act as a backbone for all emerging technologies across all sectors of the economy. According to the report of the panel appointed by the government, by the year 2035, 5G is estimated to create a positive cumulative impact of $1 trillion in India.

 

How this deal will help Airtel and Nokia?

Bharti Airtel’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Gopal Vittal said the organization always strives to provide best possible services and world class experiences to their customers. From a long time, they have been working with Nokia and will be elated to use Nokia’s products and services further. Nokia’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Rajeev Suri explained the importance of this agreement and how it will help the Airtel customers in India and also in the growth of the economy.

Nokia’s SRAN solution will bring the 2G, 3G and 4G networks under one single platform. It will help in lowering the cost, increasing efficiency and decreasing the network intricacy. The Nokia Corporation will also play an essential role in the installation and maintenance of this project in India.

 

 

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