Gopal Vittal at Airtel: A stint of multiple challenges, in charts
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When Gopal Vittal took over the Indian operations of Bharti Airtel in March 2013, telecom was a cut-throat industry of 13 companies, each trying to undercut on price and outbid in buying airwaves. Airtel was a leader in a scattered industry in the throes of change and turmoil.
When he relinquishes his top position in January 2026, an intent announced last week, Vittal will leave an operation that doubled down on the big challenges over the past decade—Reliance Jio’s entry, regulations, litigation and technology advances—to come out as one of the two players that truly matter in Indian telecom today. Back in March 2013, though Sunil Mittal-promoted Airtel was the market leader, there was a feeling of siege. Airtel had lost share in a growing market for three years.
It was challenged with a $9-billion buy of Zain’s African business in March 2010. Three months later, in India, it had paid big to buy spectrum for a certain technology, only to learn that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance would be making a cheaper, and full-fledged, entry into telecom via another technology. Jio’s entry, with deep pockets and an all-in approach, had huge implications.
The number of operators reduced to six by March 2020. Airtel’s monthly average revenue per user (Arpu) dipped from ₹193 in March 2013 to ₹114 in March 2017, six months after Jio’s launch. Eventually, Jio and Airtel called a truce, and Airtel’s Arpu started improving.
As did its share performance. While it’s only in 2024 that the Airtel stock has outperformed the broad market, the base for that was the painstaking work it put in for a decade on three levels. First, to keep acquiring subscribers and keep growing.
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