Airtel has emerged as the world’s second-largest telecom operator by customer base, crossing 650 million users globally across its operations in India and Africa.
The milestone highlights the company’s continued expansion in mobile and internet connectivity, as well as its growing footprint in digital services and infrastructure.
Bharti Airtel, one of India’s leading telecommunications providers, ranks second globally by mobile subscriber numbers, reflecting sustained growth and trust across its markets.
Commenting on the achievement, Gopal Vittal, the executive vice chairman of Bharti Airtel, said: “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 also deliver a safe network.”
India Operations: 5G, digital services, and enterprise solutions
In India, Airtel serves over 368 million mobile customers. It was the first operator in the country to launch 5G Plus services, which now anchor a converged ecosystem that includes Xstream AirFiber (FWA) and an integrated IPTV platform. The company now provides high-speed internet to over 13 million homes and digital television services to more than 15 million households.
Airtel’s innovation is underpinned by the world’s first network-based AI spam protection solution, designed to enhance customer experience and security.
Airtel Business offers enterprise solutions spanning Airtel IQ, cybersecurity, SD-WAN, cloud services, managed services, and IoT, all supported by an extensive network of over 400,000 route kilometres of subsea fibre and Nxtra’s green data centres. These facilities are designed to sustainably accommodate India’s growing AI and digital workloads.
Further expanding its digital portfolio, Airtel recently entered the non-banking financial services sector, leveraging data insights to deliver personalised credit and financial products through the Airtel app.
Across 14 African countries, Airtel Africa serves more than 179 million customers, providing mobile voice, high-speed data, and international roaming services. Central to its regional strategy is Airtel Money, a mobile financial platform with over 52 million users, which enables financial inclusion by offering banking and instant payment services to millions of previously unbanked individuals.
Beyond its regional operations, Airtel is expanding its global reach through strategic partnerships with Eutelsat, OneWeb, and SpaceX. These collaborations use Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband to remote maritime, aviation, and rural locations, helping bridge the global digital divide.
Vittal emphasised the company’s mission: “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.”
