Bharti Airtel shares rise nearly 2% as company withdraws 1GB/day plan; check details

The gain in share price followed reports that the company discontinued its ₹249 prepaid plan offering 1 GB of daily data. The change, effective immediately, raises the minimum data usage threshold to 1.5 GB per day, now priced at ₹319, ET reported.

The step mirrors Reliance Jio’s recent move to withdraw its 1 GB per day plan, replacing it with a 1.5 GB daily pack at ₹299, nearly 17% costlier. Analysts expect Vodafone Idea, India’s third-largest telecom operator, to adopt a similar strategy.

The move, according to experts, is intended to enhance average revenue per user (ARPU) for telecom operators.

Bharti Airtel Q1 results:

Bharti Airtel reported net profit of ₹5,948 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY26), marking an increase of 43% from ₹4,160 crore in the same period last year. The sharp jump in profit came on the back of strong performance in India and a rebound in African business.

Bharti Airtel's revenue from operations jumped 29% annually in the April-June period to ₹49,463 crore from ₹38,506 crore in the year-ago period.

The company reported strong operational performance as its operating profit, also known as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), came in at ₹28,167 crore with an EBITDA margin of 56.9%.

Bharti Airtel's India business posted quarterly revenues of ₹37,585 crore – up 29% year-on-year (YoY) and up 2.3% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), backed by improved realisations in the mobile segment and strong momentum in the homes business, the Delhi-based company said in a regulatory filing.

Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric of a telecom company's profitability, improved to ₹250 per user per month from ₹211 in the year-ago period.