Airtel India mobile ARPU reaches Rs 271 as data use climbs

Bharti Airtel’s India mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) reached Rs 271 in September 2026, up 5.9% year on year, while monthly data usage per customer rose 28.8% to 36.5 gigabytes (GB). The quarter combined higher customer monetisation with 36.5% annual growth in total network data consumption.

How did Airtel’s India mobile ARPU change?

Airtel’s India mobile ARPU increased to Rs 271 in September 2026 from Rs 264 in June 2026 and Rs 256 in September 2025. That represents a 2.7% quarter-on-quarter increase and a 5.9% year-on-year increase. The operating report says the financial figures used to calculate ARPU are based on Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS).

The rupee ARPU trend differed from the US dollar measure because Airtel reported India mobile ARPU of US$2.8 in September 2026, 1.9% higher sequentially but 3.2% lower than US$2.9 a year earlier. The presentation provides the resulting ARPU figures, but does not break down the Rs 15 year-on-year increase into tariff, customer-mix or usage-related components.

Airtel also reported revenue per tower per month of Rs 293,933 in September 2026, up 3.0% from Rs 285,253 in June 2026 and 7.9% from Rs 272,510 in September 2025. This measure rose faster year on year than the 5.9% increase in mobile ARPU, although the presentation does not identify a direct relationship between the two metrics.

What drove Airtel’s increase in data usage?

Airtel’s reported monthly data usage per customer rose to 36.5 GB in September 2026 from 28.3 GB in September 2025, a 28.8% increase, and from 34.4 GB in June 2026, a 6.2% quarterly increase. Total data carried on the India mobile network increased faster, rising 36.5% year on year to 33,358 million GB and 7.4% from 31,062 million GB in June 2026.

The expansion in data traffic occurred alongside a larger data-user base. Airtel had 305.449 million data customers in September 2026, up 5.5% from 289.433 million a year earlier and 0.7% from June 2026. Of these, 304.630 million were 4G or 5G data customers, equal to 81.0% of the overall mobile customer base, compared with 79.5% in September 2025.

The data metrics show that traffic growth came from both more data customers and more use by each customer. The 16.016 million increase in data customers over the year was slower than the 28.8% rise in per-customer usage, while total network GB rose 36.5%. Airtel’s presentation does not separately quantify the contribution of 4G customers and 5G customers to the 33,358 million GB total.

Did Airtel add enough customers to support mobile growth?

Airtel added 716,000 India mobile customers in the September 2026 quarter, taking the customer base to 377.224 million, only 0.2% above June 2026. This quarterly net-addition figure was below 3.265 million in the June 2026 quarter, although the base was 3.6% above the 364.192 million reported in September 2025.

Postpaid growth was faster than total mobile-base growth. The reported postpaid base within the India mobile segment reached 31.238 million, increasing 4.1% sequentially and 13.5% year on year. When internet of things and machine-to-machine connections reported in Airtel Business are included, postpaid connections totalled 119.821 million, up 6.2% from June 2026 and 42.9% from September 2025.

Prepaid customers accounted for 91.7% of Airtel’s September 2026 India mobile base, down from 92.0% in June 2026 and 92.4% a year earlier. Monthly churn was 2.9%, compared with 2.6% in June 2026 and the same 2.9% in September 2025. The movement in the prepaid share and the faster postpaid increase provide context for ARPU, but the report does not assign a numerical ARPU effect to either factor.

How does Airtel’s mobile performance compare with other India services?

Airtel’s India mobile ARPU increased 5.9% year on year in September 2026, whereas Homes Services ARPU declined 4.6% to Rs 509 and Digital TV Services ARPU declined 0.2% to Rs 163. Mobile recorded the disclosed year-on-year ARPU increase among these three India customer-service categories, while Homes Services had the highest absolute ARPU at Rs 509.

Customer trends also differed by service. Homes Services customers grew 28.9% year on year to 15.369 million, with 676,000 net additions in the September 2026 quarter, while Digital TV Services customers declined 2.8% sequentially to 15.560 million after net disconnections of 443,000. Digital TV Services includes IPTV from the fourth quarter of 2025 onwards, according to the presentation.

Airtel expanded the India mobile network over the same year: population coverage reached 97.5% in September 2026 from 96.5% in September 2025, and total mobile broadband base stations rose by 59,308 to 1,214,118. Its optic fibre network increased by 44,718 route kilometres to 552,373 route kilometres, while network towers increased by 5,649 to 347,988. These are reported network additions; the presentation does not state a direct causal link between any individual expansion measure and ARPU.

Conclusion

Airtel’s September 2026 India mobile figures combine Rs 271 monthly ARPU, a 377.224 million customer base and 36.5 GB of monthly usage per customer. Data traffic grew faster than the customer base, while the postpaid base also expanded faster than the overall mobile base and mobile ARPU increased as Homes Services and Digital TV Services ARPU declined year on year.

The next operating disclosures will show whether 2.9% monthly churn, 716,000 quarterly net additions and 81.0% 4G/5G data-customer penetration persist. Airtel also disclosed that the Telecommunications (User Identification) Rules, 2026, dated August 21, 2026, provided a three-month period for system readiness and rollout, making implementation of those requirements a further disclosed matter to watch.