Bharti Airtel's credit rating upgraded due to deleveraging and strong financial performance. Market share climbed to 33.5%. Leverage is expected to improve to 1.5x by FY2026-27, driven by Indian operations.
Airtel's ARPU is projected to rise, driven by tariff hikes, while capex declines boost FCF. Jio's ARPU growth is expected to be slower. Market share gains are also anticipated for Airtel.
The TRAI data showed both Jio and Airtel reported RMS gains in the April-June period, on the back of strong revenue growth in both urban and rural markets despite the absence of a tariff hike in the June quarter.
