Bharti Airtel posts highest-ever quarterly revenue on higher tariffs, data usage

Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd reported its highest ever quarterly consolidated revenue on Tuesday, driven by higher tariffs and a rise in data usage from a coronavirus-fuelled shift to remote working.

Indian telecom operators, grappling with low tariffs due to a price war that ensued after Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio entered the space, hiked prices last year as they were ordered to pay 920 billion rupees ($12.44 billion) in dues to the government.

That helped the company’s quarterly consolidated revenue rise 22% to 257.85 billion rupees.

The average revenue per user at India’s second-largest telecom operator rose to 162 rupees for the quarter, from 128 rupees a year earlier.