Airtel’s Q2 performance highlights a sharper improvement in operating leverage compared to Jio, with new mobile revenue translating more efficiently into profitability, analysts said.
This stems from Airtel’s focus on premium users and tighter operating discipline. “Incremental Ebitda margin for mobile business was 94%, which is positive and shows discipline on opex,” analysts from ICICI Securities noted. Jio’s comparable incremental Ebitda margin for the quarter was 60%, signalling a weaker pass-through of new revenue, they added.
This divergence widens when comparing revenue drivers. Airtel’s average revenue per user (Arpu) rose to `256 in the second quarter of FY26, aided by premiumisation and stronger subscriber mix. “Arpu was driven by improved mix of postpaid subscribers…continued addition of 4G subscribers… premiumisation from 2G to 4G; and 4G to 5G; data monetisation,” ICICI Securities analysts observed.
According to Airtel’s quarterly highlights, smartphone data customers rose to 285.8 million, total data traffic to 24.4 billion GB, and per capita data usage to 28.3 GB. The telco’s net subscriber additions came in at 1.4 million for the quarter.
Jio also recorded an Arpu increase, though at a lower level at `211.4 from `208.8 in the previous quarter. Analysts attributed the improvement to higher 5G adoption, stronger home broadband contribution, greater data usage, and one additional day in the quarter.
Jio, however, outpaced Airtel in subscriber additions, adding 8.3 million users to reach 506.4 million. It’s data usage came in at 58.4 billion GB, while per capita data usage was 38.7 GB.
Margin performance further reinforces the separation between the two operators. Airtel’s India Ebitda margin expanded to 60% in Q2 from 59.5% a quarter prior, supported by operating leverage from higher-value users and disciplined execution. India Ebitda grew 3.81% on-quarter.
Jio’s Ebitda rose 3.31% sequentially to Rs 17,874 crore, with margins at 56.1%. Analysts from Jefferies said the modest expansion was aided by a “sharp decline in staff costs and flat network operating costs,” though the margin profile remained softer than Airtel’s domestic business.
Looking ahead, Airtel has multiple levers to support revenue momentum. HSBC analysts said, “The company reiterated levers for mobile Arpu to rise — higher postpaid adoption, rising smartphone users, higher data usage, and adoption for international roaming plans. Mobile Arpu can also increase by tariff restructuring.”
Jio’s growth trajectory is shifting towards home broadband and fixed wireless access (FWA). Analysts noted that the firm added 2.4 million fixed broadband subscribers in Q2, taking total connected premises to 23 million. Its FWA base reached 9.5 million users, with management indicating monthly additions of nearly one million homes.
Airtel’s home services business continued its strong run in Q2, driven by faster fibre rollout and rising fixed wireless adoption. Analysts from ICICI Securities said the company “has accelerated its fibre home-pass net add to 2.5 million per quarter…which should help in FWA rollout.”