Bharti Airtel will set up 56 edge data centres over the next 18-24 months as part of a major expansion in its digital infrastructure business, while top executive Gopal Vittal said India’s telecom tariff structure “needs to change”.
Speaking during the company’s fourth-quarter FY26 earnings call on Thursday, Vittal said Airtel is significantly scaling up investments in data centres, fibre infrastructure and financial services, as it strengthens its position in India’s fast-growing digital ecosystem.
He said the company is focusing on building “world-class edge data centres” that would support demand over the next two to three decades and act as a key differentiator in its portfolio.
“We are focused right now on building in the next 18 to 24 months 56 world-class edge data centres, which will really stand us in very good stead over the next 2 to 3 decades,” Vittal said.
Airtel, he noted, currently holds only about 10–12 per cent share in the data centre market and aims to expand its footprint significantly. The company’s long-term ambition is to reach a gigawatt-scale capacity in the coming years.
Vittal pointed out that 50–60 per cent of India’s data centre demand is concentrated in Mumbai, which will require sustained investment in land acquisition and infrastructure development.
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Alongside data centres, Airtel is also expanding its optical fibre network and strengthening its home broadband segment, which Vittal described as a high-value business with low churn and strong long-term customer lifetime value.
He said transport capex would be a major focus area even as core radio investments moderate in India, while African operations continue to see higher capital spending.
On the telecom pricing structure, Vittal said the current system in India is uneven and needs reform.
“The price architecture in India is broken, where the rich are paying less than they ought to be, and the poor are perhaps paying as much as they need to. This needs to change,” he said, signalling the need for tariff rationalisation in the sector.
Financially, Airtel reported a 33.5 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 7,325 crore in the March quarter of FY26, largely due to one-time provisions linked to statutory and tax liabilities.
Despite the profit drop, the company crossed a major milestone, with annual revenue exceeding Rs 2 lakh crore for the first time, driven by a 3.2 per cent rise in its customer base to 66.5 crore and steady growth in average revenue per user (ARPU).
In India, mobile services revenue rose around 8 per cent to Rs 28,831 crore in the reported quarter, supported by subscriber additions and a 5 per cent rise in ARPU to Rs 257 from Rs 245 a year earlier.
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