Airtel, World’s Second Largest Telco, Hits 650-Million Customer Milestone
Jammu, April 2nd, 2026: Bharti Airtel, the world’s second largest telecom operator by customer base and one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, has achieved another milestone – crossing 650 million customers.
According to GSMA Intelligence, Bharti Airtel is ranked second globally by mobile customer base, with operations spread across India and Africa.
Commenting on this milestone, Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman, 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 to also deliver a safe network.
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.”
Airtel’s rank as the second-largest telecom operator by mobile customer base underscores a sustained improvement in its global standing.
The company’s operations span India and Africa, supported by a growing portfolio of digital services and infrastructure capabilities across its markets of operation:
• India
o Serving over 368 million mobile customers, Airtel was the first to launch 5G Plus services, which now anchor a converged ecosystem including Xstream AirFiber (FWA) and an integrated IPTV service. Airtel now serves over 13 million homes with high-speed internet services and over 15 million through our Digital TV offering. This “customer-obsessed” innovation is supported by the world’s first network-based AI spam protection solution.
o Airtel Business offers mission-critical solutions to enterprise customers. These span across Airtel IQ, cybersecurity, SD-WAN, cloud, managed services, and IoT in addition to secure connectivity. These offerings are powered by an expansive network of over 400,000 route kms of subsea fiber and Nxtra’s green data centers, which sustainably support the nation’s rising AI and digital workloads.
o Furthering its digital services, Airtel has recently announced its foray into the NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) space, leveraging its data insights to offer personalized credit and financial products through the Airtel app.
• Airtel Africa
o With a base of over 179 million customers across 14 countries, Airtel Africa provides a vital digital lifeline through integrated mobile voice, high-speed data, and international roaming services. The core of its regional strategy is Airtel Money, a transformative mobile financial platform with over 52 million customers, which drives financial inclusion by providing banking and instant payments to millions of previously unbanked users across the continent.
• Global Space & Connectivity
o Beyond its regional hubs, Airtel is bridging the digital divide through strategic partnership with Eutelsat OneWeb and SpaceX, utilizing a constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband to the most remote maritime, aviation, and rural areas.
Source: GSMA Intelligence
