The third quarter (Q3) of FY 2025-26, ended December 2025, offered a broadly familiar picture of India’s telecom sector, with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel maintaining healthy growth trajectories while Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) continued to face structural challenges. ARPUs rose across the three private operators, reflecting the impact of earlier tariff revisions and continued subscriber premiumisation, with Jio reporting Rs 213.70, Airtel Rs 259 and Vi Rs 186 ARPU respectively. The 5G subscriber base expanded meaningfully for both Jio and Airtel, while Vi completed its initial 5G roll-out across 17 priority circles.

For Jio and Airtel, the focus has shifted from network roll-out to monetisation. Both operators are deepening engagement through broadband, digital services and enterprise offerings, with capex moderating as 5G infrastructure spend tapers off. Vi’s revenue growth remains modest, though the freezing of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability at Rs 876.95 billion as of December 31, 2025 offered a measure of near-term clarity on its debt position.

BSNL, however, swung to a net loss during the quarter, primarily due to a sharp increase in depreciation charges following the capitalisation of 4G network assets, even as its underlying operational metrics showed improvement. BSNL’s situation is more nuanced: its mobile segment is growing, and its revival packages continue to be implemented, but the financial results mask the underlying operational progress.

A look at the financial and operational results of India’s telecom operators for the quarter ended December 2025…

Reliance Jio

Reliance Jio posted a revenue of Rs 436.83 billion in Q3 FY 2026, up 12.7 per cent year on year from Rs 387.5 billion in Q3 FY 2025. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 16.4 per cent to Rs 193.03 billion, with margins improving by 170 basis points year on year, driven by higher ARPU and operating leverage. Profit after tax came in at Rs 76.29 billion, compared to Rs 68.61 billion in Q3 FY 2025.

ARPU for the quarter stood at Rs 213.70, a 5.1 per cent year-on-year increase, supported by stronger customer engagement, though partially offset by promotional offers tied to unlimited 5G and fixed broadband services. The total subscriber base crossed 515 million, with net additions of 8.9 million during the quarter and monthly churn stable at 1.8 per cent. Total data traffic grew 34 per cent year on year to over 62 Exabytes, with per capita data consumption at 40.7 GB per month.

Jio’s 5G subscriber base reached 253 million as of December 2025, accounting for approximately 53 per cent of total wireless traffic. Fixed broadband-connected premises grew to 25.3 million, while JioAirFiber crossed 11.5 million subscribers to become the first fixed wireless access (FWA) service globally to surpass 10 million subscribers. JioAICloud accumulated approximately 50 million registered users, with new features added, including voice search in Gujarati and Marathi.

During the quarter, Jio also launched the Jio-Gemini offer, extending free access to Google’s Gemini Pro plan for eligible unlimited 5G users. Further, it signed an MoU with the National Highways Authority of India to deploy a telecom-based safety alert system across the national highway network.

Bharti Airtel

Airtel reported consolidated revenues of Rs 539.82 billion in Q3 FY 2026, up 19.6 per cent year on year from Rs 451.29 billion and 3.5 per cent quarter on quarter. Consolidated EBITDA stood at Rs 311.44 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 57.7 per cent. Net income before exceptional items was Rs 69.2 billion, up from Rs 55.14 billion in Q3 FY 2025. Similarly, capex for the quarter was Rs 117.87 billion.

India revenues came in at Rs 392.26 billion, growing 13.2 per cent year on year. India EBITDA was Rs 236.76 billion, with a margin of 60.4 per cent. Mobile ARPU rose to Rs 259 from Rs 245 in the previous quarter, with management noting that, in the absence of further tariff repair, ARPU growth wanted continue to be driven by feature phone-to-smartphone upgrades, prepaid-to-post-paid migration, data monetisation and international roaming. Further, revenue-earning mobile customer additions were 4.4 million, and post-paid net additions were 0.62 million.

In terms of operations, Airtel’s 5G subscriber base reached 181 million. Smartphone data customers grew 20.8 million year on year and 5.2 million quarter on quarter, accounting for 79 per cent of total mobile customers. Mobile data consumption grew 29.2 per cent year on year to 29.8 GB per customer per month. The Homes business delivered its highest-ever quarterly net customer addition of approximately 1.16 million, taking the installed connected homes base past 13 million, while the FWA customer base crossed 3 million. Similarly, Airtel Business posted a sequential revenue growth of 1.5 per cent.

Looking ahead, as per the operator’s earnings call, its data centre arm Nxtra is building out its data centre business with a target of reaching 1 GW of capacity over the next three to four years. Moreover, its cloud business has signed over 16 enterprise deals, with more than 300 active customer conversations across sectors such as banking, financial services and insurance, and manufacturing.

Vi

Vi reported a revenue of Rs 113.23 billion in Q3 FY 2026, a year-on-year growth of 1.9 per cent. Reported EBITDA was Rs 48.16 billion, while cash EBITDA was Rs 23.58 billion, marginally lower than the Rs 24.5 billion in Q3 FY 2025. However, the telco’s ARPU improved to Rs 186 from Rs 173 in the same period a year earlier, representing a 7.3 per cent year-on-year increase supported by customer upgrades. The 4G and 5G combined subscriber base stood at 128.5 million, up from 126 million in Q3 FY 2025, with total subscribers at 192.9 million. Additionally, the capex for the quarter stood at Rs 22.52 billion.

The most consequential development for Vi during the quarter was the freezing of its AGR liability at Rs 876.95 billion as of December 31, 2025, subject to reassessment. A payment plan with limited cash outflow over 10 years is in place, offering longer-term clarity. Vi also successfully raised Rs 33 billion through non-convertible debentures despite the AGR overhang, which management described as a reflection of lender confidence. Bank debt stood at Rs 11.26 billion, with cash and bank balance at Rs 69.63 billion. Further, Vi concluded the settlement of the Contingent Liability Adjustment Mechanism receivable of Rs 63.94 billion with the Vodafone Group, with approximately Rs 23 billion expected to be received over the next 12 months and proceeds from the sale of 3.28 billion shares earmarked in the company’s favour. AGR payment is no longer a precondition for the receipt of these funds.

On the network side, Vi expanded its 5G service, which was launched in Mumbai in March 2025, to all 17 priority circles and is now live in 43 cities. The operator added over 6,500 new unique 4G towers during the quarter, taking its total broadband site count past 548,000. The 4G population coverage reached 85.5 per cent, up from approximately 77 per cent as of March 2024. 4G data capacity expanded by 43 per cent, and 4G speeds improved by approximately 22 per cent over the same period. Further, average data usage by 4G and 5G subscribers grew 26.7 per cent year on year to 19.2 GB per day.

BSNL

BSNL reported revenue from operations of Rs 52.89 billion in Q3 FY 2026, up 6.5 per cent year on year from Rs 49.69 billion in Q3 FY 2025. Total income, including other income, stood at Rs 60.01 billion. The operating profit before depreciation and interest charges was Rs 18.05 billion. However, there was a sharp jump in depreciation and amortisation from Rs 8.14 billion in Q3 FY 2025 to Rs 27.29 billion in Q3 FY 2026, reflecting the capitalisation of 4G network assets following the government’s equity infusions for spectrum, resulting in a net loss of Rs 13.01 billion. The same quarter a year ago had seen a profit of Rs 2.62 billion.

Among the three business segments, consumer mobility was the strongest performer, with revenue from operations of Rs 24.11 billion, up approximately 17 per cent year on year. Enterprise services contributed Rs 13.32 billion, while consumer fixed access continued to decline, with revenue falling to Rs 15.42 billion from Rs 16.51 billion in Q3 FY 2025. During the quarter, BSNL sold six land parcels at a book value of Rs 1.85 billion for Rs 2.85 billion, generating a gain of Rs 0.997 billion.

The government’s ongoing revival measures, including equity infusions for spectrum and capex support, remain the primary levers keeping BSNL’s network expansion on track, and the pace of land and asset monetisation will be a key variable in reducing the PSU’s financial burden going forward. However, employee benefit obligations continue to present a challenge, with the company’s retirement benefit funding short by Rs 2.97 billion towards gratuity.

Outlook

The Q3 FY 2026 results reinforce the widening gap between India’s two profitable private operators and the remaining two, with Vi still battling a massive debt burden despite improving operational metrics, and BSNL remaining dependent on government support as it works through its revival programme. Jio and Airtel are leveraging 5G, broadband and enterprise platforms to build diversified revenue streams, with improving margins and moderating capex signalling stronger cash flows ahead. Vi’s network expansion is progressing, and the AGR freeze is a positive step, but sustained recovery will depend on its ability to raise the capital needed for its larger network investment plan. BSNL’s reported loss this quarter should be read in the context of the non-cash depreciation load it is now carrying, but the telco must demonstrate a clearer path to operational self-sufficiency if it is to reduce its dependence on periodic government support.

Shashwat Singh