Airtel Becomes World’s 2nd Largest Telecom Operator As Global User Base Hits 650 Million

Bharti Airtel has achieved a significant global milestone by surpassing 650 million customers, officially becoming the world’s second-largest mobile operator by subscriber base. According to the latest data from GSMA Intelligence, the company now trails only China Mobile in terms of total users, following steady expansion across its primary markets in India and Africa.

Executive Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal described the achievement as a "great responsibility," noting that the company remains focused on investing in advanced infrastructure to support its massive scale. The growth comes as the provider transitions from a traditional mobile service to a diversified digital ecosystem encompassing 5G, satellite broadband, and financial services. Airtel AI-Powered Fraud Alert Protection System Launched To Combat Spam and OTP Banking Scams.

Airtel Dominance in the Indian Market and 5G Expansion

In its home market of India, Airtel now serves over 368 million mobile customers. The company was the first in the country to roll out 5G Plus services, which have since become the foundation for a converged digital network. This ecosystem includes Xstream AirFiber—a fixed wireless access solution—and integrated IPTV services.

Beyond mobile connectivity, the company has established a significant footprint in the home broadband sector, providing high-speed internet to 13 million households. Additionally, its Digital TV services currently reach 15 million homes, marking its successful transition into a multi-service utility provider.

Airtel Enterprise Solutions and Infrastructure Growth

The company’s business wing, Airtel Business, continues to scale its operations by providing mission-critical enterprise solutions. These include cybersecurity, SD-WAN, cloud services, and Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities. This infrastructure is supported by an extensive network of over 400,000 route kilometres of subsea fibre and Nxtra’s "green" data centres.

These data centres are increasingly vital for supporting India’s growing AI and digital workloads. Furthermore, the company recently announced its entry into the Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) space, leveraging its mobile app to offer personalised credit and financial products directly to its user base.

Airtel Africa remains a core pillar of the group’s global strategy, serving 179 million customers across 14 countries. The company provides essential mobile voice and high-speed data services, but its most significant impact is through Airtel Money. With over 52 million users, the mobile money platform plays a transformative role in driving financial inclusion for unbanked populations. Airtel Cloud Launched: Bharti Airtel-Owned Xtelify Launches ‘Built-in-India’ Telco-Grade Sovereign Cloud Service, Available to Indian and Global Businesses; Check Details.

To address connectivity gaps in remote areas, the operator is also venturing into space-based internet. Through partnerships with Eutelsat OneWeb and SpaceX, it is leveraging Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. These collaborations aim to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband to rural, maritime, and aviation sectors where traditional ground-based infrastructure is unavailable.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2026 10:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).