NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said there will be more tariff hikes in the telecom sector as current economic conditions are still quite poor.
Gopal Vittal, chief executive officer, while speaking at the earnings call of its second quarter FY 2024-25, also mentioned that there has been 31 round of tariff hikes, and more are to come to improve the industry.
“We have just gone through one round of repair. We should wait for it to fully settle. But clearly, there’s more to be done in this market. I think the current economics are still quite poor and really need to improve dramatically,” said Vittal.
In July 2024, Airtel increased tariff up to 25% in its prepaid plans. Subsequently, during the September quarter, Airtel lost nearly 2.9 million customers due to SIM consolidation triggered by the tariff hike. However, Vittal downplayed the impact of this subscriber loss, describing it as milder than previous instances.
“In the mobility business, we experienced a loss of 2.9 million customers due to SIM consolidation triggered by the tariff repair. But this decline was milder than what we observed in earlier rounds. As we’ve seen in the past, these trends normalize over two quarters and we’ve already seen that normalisation happen,” said Vittal.
Meanwhile, Airtel reported a robust financial performance for the second quarter. The company’s consolidated net profit surged by 168% to Rs 3,593 crore compared to Rs 1,341 crore in the same period last year.
Additionally, average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 15% to Rs 233. Airtel also announced that Shashwat Sharma, currently the chief operating officer, will take over as managing director and chief executive officer from January 1, 2026.
Gopal Vittal will move to the role of executive vice-chairman, continuing to contribute to the company’s growth and strategy. Vittal clarified that he remains committed to the Bharti Group and has no plans to pursue opportunities outside the organisation.
He will assume additional responsibilities, including overseeing digital procurement, talent management, network strategy, and emerging growth areas.
“I am fully committed to the Bharti Group, and I have no intention of taking on anything outside the group,” Vittal added.
Current tariff rates are still quite poor: Vittal
Gopal Vittal, chief executive officer, while speaking at the earnings call of its second quarter FY 2024-25, also mentioned that there has been 31 round of tariff hikes, and more are to come to improve the industry. “We have just gone through one round of repair. We should wait for it to fully settle. But clearly, there’s more to be done in this market. I think the current economics are still quite poor and really need to improve dramatically,” said Vittal.