Bharti Airtel raised its sales and marketing spend by 25% year-on-year in Q1 FY27, even as the telecom major posted strong revenue and profit growth, signalling continued investment in customer acquisition and premiumisation.
Sales and marketing expenses touched ₹3,692.9 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up from ₹2,965.9 crore a year earlier and higher sequentially too, as Airtel expanded its subscriber base across mobile, broadband and digital services.
Consolidated revenue grew 18% year-on-year to ₹58,539.1 crore. Profit before tax rose 34% to ₹14,126.2 crore, while net income jumped 37% to ₹8,167.4 crore. EBITDA increased 19% to ₹33,598.6 crore, with margins improving to 57.4%.
India’s mobile business remained the key growth driver, with the subscriber base reaching 376.5 million after adding 3.27 million users during the quarter. Postpaid subscribers grew nearly 13% to 30 million, and ARPU improved to ₹264, aided by upgrades and rising data usage. Data traffic surged 36% year-on-year, with average monthly consumption per user climbing to 34.4 GB.
Home Services continued its expansion, with the customer base growing 34% to 14.69 million, though net additions slowed compared to the previous quarter. Digital TV held steady with 16 million subscribers, though net additions dropped sharply from the March quarter’s pace.
Airtel also pushed ahead on infrastructure, expanding population coverage to 97.4%, its fibre network to over 542,000 route kilometres, and towers to 347,491 – reinforcing its push across both connectivity and premium customer experience.
