Bharti Airtel is shifting its strategy by reducing 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) deployment to focus more on fibre broadband. The company cites high hardware costs and customer turnover as primary reasons. Despite this strategic pivot, Airtel reported a strong first quarter for FY27, with net profit rising by 37.3% to ₹8,167 crore, driven by high-value subscriber additions and increased average revenue per user.
Bharti Airtel is recalibrating its home broadband strategy, moving away from an aggressive expansion of its 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) service to prioritize traditional fibre-to-the-home connections. This change follows a period of rapid wireless expansion, with the company now choosing to limit FWA deployments to regions where laying physical fibre cables is physically difficult or impossible.
The shift is largely driven by financial and operational realities. Management noted that the cost of necessary hardware, such as memory and chipsets, has been rising, making it harder to sustain the economics of 5G-based home internet. Additionally, the company observed that low-priced entry plans for FWA attracted a segment of customers who did not stay with the service for long. This high customer turnover, often called 'churn' in the telecom industry, meant that the cost of installing and later retrieving equipment often outweighed the revenue generated from these short-term subscribers.
Despite this shift in technology focus, the company’s broader financial performance remains strong. In its first-quarter results for the 2027 fiscal year, Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated revenue of ₹58,539 crore, an 18.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Net profit also climbed by 37.3% to reach ₹8,167 crore. The average revenue per user, a key metric for telecom profitability, rose to ₹264, reflecting the company’s ongoing efforts to move customers toward higher-value plans and postpaid services.
The operational numbers highlight the scale of the competitive landscape. By the end of June 2026, Airtel’s home broadband base reached 14.7 million subscribers, adding 473,000 users during the quarter. In comparison, rival Reliance Jio reported a fixed broadband base of over 28.6 million subscribers, which includes about 14 million users on its AirFiber service. Airtel’s management indicated that approximately 95% of India's home broadband demand is concentrated in 400 key cities, where the company is now intensifying its fibre expansion to better defend its market share against competitors.
For investors, the immediate focus will be on the execution of this fibre-first strategy. The success of this move will depend on whether the company can maintain consistent subscriber growth while keeping costs under control. The long-term performance will be linked to the company’s ability to execute network rollouts efficiently and the continued growth in average revenue per user as the company promotes higher-quality data packages.