Airtel shifts home broadband strategy decisively to fibre

Bharti Airtel Limited added 670,000 homes net additions in Q2 FY2027 and has made fibre its primary home-broadband growth route, limiting fixed wireless access, or FWA, to interim coverage until an area can be fibreized. Management said fibre provides the best in-home experience and supports stickier customers and long-term value creation.

Why is Airtel scaling back FWA expansion?

Airtel is scaling back FWA-led expansion because management regards fibre as the centre of its homes strategy and the preferred technology for in-home connectivity. Shashwat Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer of Airtel India, said during the November 6, 2026 earnings webinar that fibre delivered the best experience globally and within Airtel’s own customer base.

FWA will continue, but in a narrower role. Airtel said it will use wireless access to capture demand in areas that have not yet been fibreized, then deploy fibre when demand density develops. This changes FWA from an expansion-led route into an interim tool supporting a fibre-led rollout.

Management did not describe the decision as a temporary reduction that could later reverse. In response to a Goldman Sachs analyst’s question, Sharma said Airtel was clear about going all out on fibreizing the country and expanding the fibre market, while using FWA at the fringes for augmentative demand capture.

The decision follows Airtel’s assessment of customer outcomes rather than a disclosed standalone FWA financial target. Management said fibre creates the stickiest customers and the best long-term value creation, while FWA can meet immediate demand before a fixed network reaches an area. Airtel did not disclose FWA subscriber additions, FWA revenue or a fibreization timetable for specific localities.

What does fibre-first expansion mean for Airtel homes?

Airtel’s fibre-first strategy means that accelerated fibre home-pass expansion will be the main method of adding homes customers, particularly in the top 1,000 cities where management says demand is concentrated. The company is targeting customer cohorts that it expects to show stronger engagement and retention, rather than pursuing FWA as the main acquisition channel.

Airtel added 670,000 homes net additions in Q2 FY2027, and management said momentum had built from the preceding quarter. The company attributed connected-homes traction to its convergence strategy, which combines services through the One Airtel plan and aims to increase engagement across its wider portfolio.

The fibre plan is linked to rising smart television adoption, increased in-home data usage and growing digital-content consumption. Management identified these trends as drivers of demand for high-speed broadband, with fibre positioned as the network technology best suited to the experience Airtel seeks to offer in the home.

Airtel is also pairing network expansion with installation and service measures. It said artificial intelligence, or AI, led workmanship tools on field engineers’ handsets are helping standardize on-ground execution. This mechanism is relevant to the fibre strategy because management has emphasized installation, service and workmanship as core elements of the homes customer proposition.

How does One Airtel support the fibre strategy?

One Airtel supports the fibre strategy by combining Airtel services in a unified customer proposition intended to provide greater convenience and flexibility. Management said growing adoption is deepening customer relationships, increasing engagement across the portfolio and strengthening customer lifetime value, or the expected value generated over a customer relationship.

The strategy therefore seeks more than a standalone broadband connection. Airtel is using connected homes as part of a convergence model, with fibre providing high-speed connectivity and other services adding to the customer relationship. Management said improvements in portfolio quality and customer durability had already emerged from its sharpened homes approach.

Digital television results show the differing roles of individual home products. Airtel lost more than 4 lakh Digital TV customers in Q2 FY2027, led by direct-to-home, or DTH, losses. However, management said internet protocol television, or IPTV, adoption and take rates remained strong, supporting its convergence agenda.

The comparison between DTH losses and IPTV adoption matters because IPTV relies on broadband connectivity and can be incorporated into the connected-homes proposition. Airtel did not give an IPTV subscriber figure for Q2 FY2027, but said its take rates were contributing to the One Airtel convergence plan while Digital TV customer numbers declined.

How does homes growth compare with Airtel’s other businesses?

Homes growth is being pursued through household penetration and convergence, while Airtel’s mobile business remains focused on portfolio premiumization. In Q2 FY2027, mobile average revenue per user, or ARPU, rose to Rs 271 from Rs 264 in the previous quarter, with management noting that one extra day in the quarter also contributed.

Airtel added 0.7 million revenue-earning mobile customers and 2.9 million smartphone data customers in Q2 FY2027. Post-paid net additions reached 1.2 million, the company’s highest reported quarterly level, while homes added 670,000 customers. The figures show that mobile remains larger in customer additions, but homes is a stated penetration-led growth opportunity.

At the group level, India Mobile accounted for about 51% of revenue in Q2 FY2027, compared with about 13% for India non-mobile, 30.5% for Africa and 6% for Indus. Management did not disclose a separate revenue share for homes, but identified deeper homes penetration as part of its continuing growth plan.

Airtel Business reported revenue of about Rs 5,800 crore in Q2 FY2027, up 3.8% sequentially and 11.4% from the year-earlier quarter. This contrasts with homes, where management focused on customer additions, fibre build-out and convergence rather than reporting segment revenue. The different disclosures reflect the company’s stated priorities in each business.

What investment backdrop supports Airtel’s fibre plan?

Airtel is investing in fibre home-pass expansion at an accelerated pace, but management did not provide a separate fibre capital-expenditure figure for Q2 FY2027. India capital expenditure was Rs 7,430 crore in the quarter, while India earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and leases, or EBITDAaL, excluding passive infrastructure, exceeded Rs 20,400 crore and grew 4% sequentially.

The capital-allocation context extends beyond home broadband. Airtel invested about Rs 2,900 crore in a strategic land parcel in Q2 FY2027 to support its one-gigawatt data-centre capacity ambition. Management said the land gives it the option to develop at least 400 to 500 megawatts of capacity over time.

Group Chief Financial Officer Soumen Ray said core-business capital expenditure would continue as guided, while data centres and cloud would need investment as newer growth businesses. That means fibre expansion will compete for capital within a wider programme that includes data-centre and cloud capabilities, although management described fibre as the heart of the homes strategy.

Airtel reported consolidated revenue of about Rs 60,900 crore in Q2 FY2027, up 4% sequentially, and EBITDAaL of about Rs 31,500 crore, up about 5.5%. It generated operating free cash flow of more than Rs 19,000 crore, defined by management as EBITDAaL less capital expenditure, providing the reported funding backdrop for network and growth investments.

Conclusion

Airtel has made fibre the primary engine of its homes strategy after adding 670,000 homes net additions in Q2 FY2027. FWA will remain available for interim demand capture, but management’s stated model is to fibreize areas once demand density emerges, supported by One Airtel convergence, IPTV adoption and AI-led service execution.

Next, Airtel’s plan calls for accelerated fibre home-pass expansion in the top 1,000 cities and fibreization of FWA-served areas where demand builds. Future homes net additions, IPTV take rates and evidence of One Airtel adoption will show whether the company is converting the fibre-first plan into higher engagement and customer durability.