Bharti Airtel yesterday reported a 168 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,593 crore for the September quarter, and the company unveiled top-level changes, including Gopal Vittal moving into the role of Executive Vice Chairman on January 1, 2026.

In a media statement, the telco also stated that digital TV revenues were up one percent year-on-year, recording Rs 759 crore with a customer base of 15.8 million.

The company, in its statement stated that it continues to gain customer market share with specific strategy and differentiated converged offerings.

“We continue to strengthen our digital capabilities to deliver best-in-class experience and differentiated digital services to our customers. During the quarter, Airtel and Apple entered into a strategic partnership to bring exclusive offers of Apple TV+ and Apple Music to Airtel customers in India, the statement said.

Meanwhile, according to a PTI report from New Delhi,  India’s second-largest telco, which competes with Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea in the Indian telecom market, clocked quarterly revenues of Rs 41,473 crore, 12 per cent higher than the year-ago period, aided by strong momentum in India and growth in Africa.

The mobile ARPU (average revenue per user) increased to Rs 233 in Q2 against Rs 203 a year ago. The mobile data consumption rose 22.6 per cent year-on-year, with consumption per customer at 23.9 GB per month.

Bharti Airtel announced that Gopal Vittal, who has helmed the company as Managing Director and CEO for the last 12 years, will move to the role of Executive Vice Chairman on January 1, 2026.

“As part of a structured succession process, Vittal, in addition to being the Managing Director, is being appointed Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel,” the company said in a release.

Shashwat Sharma, currently Chief Operation Officer, will be appointed MD and CEO of Bharti Airtel Ltd on January 1, 2026. In preparation for this role, he is being appointed CEO designate of the company.

As CEO designate, Sharma will be responsible for the entire end-to-end consumer business. Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, said that Airtel has had a distinguished record of well-thought-out structured succession planning.

 Airtel‘s consolidated net income (before exceptional items) came in at Rs 3,911 crore, up by 32.2 per cent year-on-year. However, its net income (after exceptional items) rose 168 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,593 crore.

According to the company, during the quarter ended September 30, 2024, the exceptional loss of Rs 853.7 crore was on account of foreign exchange loss(net) due to currency devaluation in its group subsidiaries.

“The net tax credit on the above exceptional item is Rs 2,943 million. The net charge allocated to non-controlling interest on the above exceptional items is Rs 2,411 million,” it explained.

On the Q2 scorecard, Vittal said: “We delivered another quarter of solid performance, with India revenue growing 8.7 per cent sequentially. Africa maintained strong revenue growth momentum, with 7.7 per cent constant currency growth. The flow through tariff repair is in line with our expectation of ARPU increase and SIM consolidation”.

India business posted quarterly revenues of Rs 31,561 crore, up 16.9 per cent year-on-year and up 8.7 sequentially, backed by improved realisations in the mobile segment and sustained momentum in Homes and Airtel Business.

Mobile services India revenues increased by 18.5 per cent, led by tariff repair, strong smartphone data customer additions and underlying mix improvement.