Airtel makes a comeback after bruising tariff war

NEW DELHI: After weathering the choppy seas left in the wake of Jio’s disruptive entry, rival Bharti Airtel Ltd, which till a year ago wore the crown as India’s number one telco, has finally managed to steer into stable waters, with its customer retention and engagement strategy driving up data usage and monthly revenue.

This, in turn, raises hopes of a turnaround in a sector which has seen margins squeezed and revenues eroded by Jio’s launch of dirt cheap data tariffs in September 2016. That disruption forced operators to either shut down or get acquired or merge businesses, leaving just two other private players in the battlefield: Airtel and the merged entity of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.