Airtel expects more 'low-end' customers to leave its network
After losing 5.7 crore customers in December, Bharti Airtel expects more "low-end" subscribers to leave its network, according to a company official.
"This quarter we lost 49 million customers which are marginal customers and which were giving us largely incoming only revenue. Definition of customer is now revenue earning customers from service revenue rather than incoming revenue," Gopal Vittal, the MD and CEO (India and South Asia) of Bharti Airtel, said during an earnings call.
Vittal in financial report statement on Thursday said that effective October-December 2018 quarter, the company modified its customer base measurement to represent only transacting and revenue generating customers.
The company accordingly reported presence of 28.4 crore customers on its network in December.
However, when compared to subscriber data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the company's subscriber based dipped by around 5.7 crore.
"We have cleaned 49-50 million subscriber last .