Jio vs Airtel Q1FY26 results: From subscriber base, data consumption to profitability, who performed better?

Telecom operators in India are in focus after strong Q1 results. India’s top three telecom operators, including Jio, Bharti Airtel & Vodafone Idea, have reported upbeat earnings in the Q1. The majority of the telecom operators have implemented tariff hikes on their service usage, which has aided better topline growth. In addition, India’s telecom operators remain buoyant on the untapped market potential in the telecom market, with increasing smartphone penetration.

Rising subscribers and ARPU

Airtel and Jio platforms continue to add new subscribers in the previous quarters despite a rise in prices. Airtel’s total subscriber base stood at 605 million, with India’s share at 436 million. Meanwhile, Jio Platforms added 9.9 million subscribers during the quarter, bringing the total to 498 million subscribers as of Q1FY26. Consequently, the ARPUs (Average revenue per user) for both operators jumped in high double digits. Airtel’s ARPU for the quarter stood at ₹250 per subscriber, up by 18.4% as compared to ₹211 per subscriber in the previous year’s similar month. Jio Platforms reported a 14.9% YoY jump in ARPU at ₹208.8 per subscriber in Q1FY26 from ₹181 per subscriber in the previous year’s similar quarter.

This was led by a strong subscriber addition and increased data consumption per capita during the quarter. According to Jio’s Q1FY26 presentation, the total data consumption stood at 54.7 bn GB, almost 23% higher than the same period last year. Similarly, per capita data consumption also jumped 23.3% to 37 GB per month.

Robust topline growth

Led by better ARPUs and strong subscriber additions, the topline for telecom users grew in high double digits during the quarter. Bharti Airtel reported superior performance with a consolidated revenue jump of 28.5% to ₹49,463 crore, and the India region reported a 29% YoY to ₹37,385 crore. Similarly, the Jio Platforms revenue for the quarter jumped 16.6% YoY to ₹30,882 crore as compared to ₹26,478 crore in the same period last year. Increased penetration, rising demand for data consumption have led to strong revenue growth across the sector. However, Airtel continued to maintain its superiority in terms of financials with a strong increase in revenue.

Operational efficiency

In terms of operational efficiency, Airtel continues to maintain its upper hand with strong EBITDA growth with superior EBITDA margin expansion. Bharti Airtel’s consolidated EBITDA for the quarter jumped 41.2% YoY to ₹28,167 crore with an EBITDA margin of 56.9%. The India region, operating profit also jumped 43.4% to ₹22,532 crore with an EBITDA margin of 59.5%. Similarly, the Jio Platforms reported a 23.3% YoY jump in EBITDA profit of ₹17,301 crore with an over 300 bps EBITDA margin expansion to 56% for the quarter. A healthy revenue growth was the key and leading factor in the strong operational efficiency for both companies.

On the profitability, Airtel’s net income or net profit for the quarter nearly doubled from ₹4718 crore to ₹7,422 crore in Q1FY26. Similarly, Jio Platforms reported a profit after tax of ₹7,110 crore, up by 25% YoY. Growth in Jio’s profitability is largely driven by moats in technology, customer engagement, and higher monetisation strategies. On the other hand, Airtel’s fare hikes led to superior margin expansions and better profitability.

**Disclaimer:**This article is purely for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice from Upstox. Please consult with a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.