Airtel Brings Back ₹299 Prepaid Plan As Customer Additions Slow

Bharti Airtel has reportedly reintroduced its ₹299 prepaid plan after witnessing slower customer additions during the September quarter of financial year 2026-27.

The 28-day plan, offering 1 GB of daily data, was withdrawn in August.

As per a report by Business Standard, Chief Executive Officer Shashwat Sharma acknowledged changes to prepaid tariffs during Airtel's earnings call.

The telecom operator plans to focus on customer upgrades, postpaid subscriptions, international roaming and top-ups to sustain average revenue per user (ARPU) growth.

Airtel reported ARPU of ₹271 in the second quarter, compared with Reliance Jio's ₹218.8.

Airtel's net customer additions declined to 7.16 lakh during the September quarter from 33 lakh in the preceding quarter.

Its customer churn rate increased by three basis points to 2.9%.

Sharma attributed slower smartphone upgrades partly to rising entry-level handset prices and weaker shipments.

However, he said India's expanding refurbished smartphone market was supporting customers shifting from 2G to 4G and 5G devices.

The company indicated that signs of improvement were emerging during the third quarter.

Sharma also suggested that telecom operators would eventually need pricing models that better reflect actual data consumption.

Airtel is moderating its fixed wireless access (FWA) expansion, treating the technology as an interim broadband solution until fibre connectivity becomes available.

Executive Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal said recently acquired land in Visakhapatnam could support a data centre with 400-500 megawatts of capacity.

The company aims to expand its overall data centre capacity beyond one gigawatt.

Airtel is also exploring modular data centre construction and graphics processing unit services.

Its broader strategy includes artificial intelligence (AI), cloud infrastructure and financial services through Airtel Money and Airtel Finance.

The company expects operational synergies across its telecom, technology and infrastructure businesses, including Indus Towers, which is expanding in Africa.