Vodafone Idea marks a turning point with its first net subscriber increase since 2018 and a boost in revenue and ARPU, signalling a potential recovery driven by 4G and 5G expansion.
Vodafone Idea said its first quarter of fiscal 2027 marked a turning point, reporting its first net subscriber gain since the 2018 merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. The telecom operator said total customers rose to 193.1 million, while average revenue per user increased 10.2% from a year earlier to ₹195, extending a run of 20 consecutive quarters of growth. Revenue climbed 6% year on year to ₹11,689 crore, and cash EBITDA rose 13.5% to ₹2,475 crore, underscoring a modest improvement in operating performance.
The company’s latest numbers build on a softer but improving trend seen in the previous fiscal year, when revenue expanded and subscriber losses narrowed sharply. In the June quarter a year earlier, Vodafone Idea reported revenue of ₹11,022.5 crore and ARPU of ₹177, while management said subscriber losses had fallen to their lowest level since the merger. Telecom analysts noted then that a stronger 4G network, early 5G launches and pricing changes were helping stabilise the user base.
Abhijit Kishore, chief executive, said the company’s premiumisation strategy is driving the higher ARPU, with upgrades from 2G to 4G and from capped data plans to unlimited offers supporting growth. He said the operator still has significant room to improve its mix, pointing to a large base of 2G customers and multi-SIM users. Vodafone Idea also said postpaid and machine-to-machine connections continued to post positive additions, while the company reported no sign of customer loss to rivals’ 5G fast-lane offers.
The network build-out is continuing, but capital spending was subdued in the quarter at ₹1,930 crore because of supply-chain disruption linked to geopolitical conditions. Vodafone Idea said 4G coverage has now reached 87% and 5G services are live in more than 200 cities across all 17 circles. The company has guided for about ₹45,000 crore of capex over the next three years, with orders worth ₹9,000 crore already placed, and reiterated its aim to triple cash EBITDA over that period on the back of an expected revenue compound annual growth rate of around 16.8%.
Funding progress was another focus of the update. Chief financial officer Tejas Mehta said Vodafone Idea had raised its first tranche of financing worth ₹6,400 crore, including ₹1,183 crore from promoter warrants, and the company’s net debt fell to ₹3,489 crore from ₹4,001 crore in the previous quarter. Credit-rating agencies recently upgraded the company to Crisil A-/Stable and ICRA A-/Stable, but the group still faces a stretched balance sheet, with management acknowledging pressure from inflation-linked operating costs such as diesel and a lingering need to improve its prepaid base.
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