All 5G smartphones, except Apple’s iPhones, will support Airtel 5G services by Mid-November. In the company’s earnings call, Bharti Airtel Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Gopal Vittal said Apple to release the software update in the November first week of and all its devices would support the company’s 5G services by mid-December.

Airtel is providing 5G services at 4G rates, likely to take the pricing call of the next-generation services in 6-9 months. Giving to the market research firm IDC, 5.1 crores of 5G smartphones were transported from 2020 to the first half of 2022 and are expected to cross 50% market share by 2023. Nevertheless, several 5G smartphones cannot access 5G services due to a lack of compatibility between the network and mobile phone.

Bharti Airtel may advance reserved network investment of Rs 23,000-24,000 crore per annum to accelerate the rollout of 5G services and gain market share. Bharti Airtel has posted an 89% YoY rise in the combined net profit for the September quarter at Rs 2,145 crore, as the higher revenue per user, more data consumption, and prolonged 4G base boosted realisations.

Airtel’s total revenue rose nearly 22% YoY to Rs 34,527 crore during this end quarter. The company credited this to “strong and dependable performance delivery across the portfolio and crossing 500 million customers internationally”. The Q2 net profit trailed street expectations, though the revenue numbers were higher than market estimates.

The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) stood at Rs 190 for the just-ended quarter as likened to Rs 153 in Q2 FY22, assisted by a focus on quality customers, feature phone to smartphone upgradation and data monetisation. Vittal said that the company has only an 8.5% Return on Investments (RoI) which is very low and can be accomplished by investing in financial instruments.