Bharti Airtel Ltd reported consolidated operational revenues of Rs 20,519 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2018, largely stagnant year-over-year. Consolidated net profit for the period was 31% lower YoY from Rs 560 crore to Rs 382 crore. The company has 384.65 million mobile customers world over, of which 284 million are in India and 97 million in the 12 countries in Africa. Notes from its concall with analysts. Note that these points are paraphrased unless explicitly quoted. General notes 4G subscribers added at a higher run rate than that of the last few quarters; bundle penetration and monthly engagement increased. 23,900 mobile broadband base stations were deployed in Q3, 900MHz were refarmed to 4G to provide VoLTE and data, initiated refarming of the 2100 band to 4G. The company said that VoLTE traffic doubled “in a very short period of time” and that 30% of its smartphones traffic is now on VoLTE with roaming. Airtel TV Premium was launched with originals and catchup content, along with content from ZEE5 and NDTV Hop, among others. Net finance costs declined largely due to lower forex fluctuations in the quarter Airtel saw an exceptional gain during the quarter due to deconsolidation impact of Airtel Payments Bank and litigation costs Postpaid revenue has seen significant downtrading over the last 2 years as people adjust to newer plans Airtel’s Gopal Vittal said that 200 of the roughly 700 districts in the country account for 80% of its industry revenues; and that it will…
