Bharti Airtel Crosses 650 Million Customers but Milestone Fails to Ignite Stock Rally

The Indian multinational telecommunications company Bharti Airtel just achieved a new milestone. Citing data from the industry tracker GSMA Intelligence, the New Delhi-headquartered company said that it now has 650 million customers.

Second Largest Telecom Operator in the World

In a statement released on Thursday, Airtel said that the development makes the company the second largest telecom operator in the world by customer base.

“Achieving the milestone of 650 million customers to be the second largest operator globally is a great responsibility for us to serve our customers better every day. This is why we invest in state-of-the-art technologies to not only provide connectivity but to also deliver a safe network,” Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal said.

“Our purpose is clear: as we deepen and expand our presence, we will strive to raise the bar on innovation, reliability, and experience so that every customer interaction is an opportunity to earn trust and deliver value connection.”

Operations in India and Africa

Airtel has operations spread across India and Africa. The company serves 368 million mobile customers in India where it pioneered 5G Plus services. It also provides high speed internet services to 13 million homes as well Digital TV offering to 15 million.

Meanwhile, the company’s majority-owned Airtel Africa has a base of 179 million customers across 14 countries in the continent. The subsidiary offers high-speed data, integrated voice and mobile money services, which has over 52 million customers. 

Modest Gain in Stock Price

Despite the achievement, Bharti Airtel failed to recoup its losses. The stock closed at  ₹1,792.00 on Thursday before trading halted on Good Friday.

The price represents a modest gain of 0.57% from the previous closing price. The stock is still down by 2.09% over the past five trading days and by nearly 6% over the past month.