en.Wedoany.com Reported - Indian telecom operator Vodafone Idea announced its fourth quarter and full-year financial results for Fiscal Year 2026 on May 16. The company achieved revenue of 113.32 billion rupees in Q4, a year-on-year increase of approximately 3%; Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) reached 190 rupees, an 8.3% increase from 175 rupees in the same period last year, the highest in the industry. The 4G/5G subscriber base grew from 126.4 million a year ago to 128.9 million, with 5G services now covering 83 cities.
Regarding changes in subscriber structure, Vodafone Idea's total subscriber base stands at 192.8 million, but a more critical signal appears in the monthly net addition data—the company's monthly net subscriber additions turned positive starting from February 2026. CEO Abhijit Kishore commented on this, stating that the beneficial effects of prior capital expenditure investments and network deployment are now clearly visible, with all seven of the company's core performance indicators showing sequential improvement. Over the past year, the company's 4G population coverage increased to over 86%, more than 17,300 new broadband site towers were added, and 4G data capacity grew by over 12% year-on-year.
Revenue and cost structure simultaneously reflect the operational status. EBITDA for the quarter was 48.89 billion rupees, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%, with the EBITDA margin improving sequentially from 42.54% to 43.14%. On a full-year basis, total revenue for FY26 was 448.73 billion rupees, up approximately 3% year-on-year; full-year EBITDA was 190.03 billion rupees, up 4.8% year-on-year; and full-year capital expenditure reached 87.42 billion rupees, continuously directed towards network coverage expansion and 5G deployment.
The specific nature of the profit composition must be distinguished. The book net profit for the fourth quarter was 519.7 billion rupees, but this figure primarily stems from a one-time accounting gain following the Indian Department of Telecommunications' reassessment of AGR dues. On April 30, the Department of Telecommunications reduced Vodafone Idea's AGR payable from the previous 876.95 billion rupees to 640.46 billion rupees, a reduction of approximately 27%. Under the revised payment structure, the company will make a minimum annual payment of 1 billion rupees for four years starting from Fiscal Year 2032, with the remaining amount repaid in six equal annual installments. Excluding this one-time gain, the company remains in a loss-making position at the operational level.
Observing the overall competitive landscape of the Indian telecom market, the catch-up pressure faced by Vodafone Idea remains significant. Reliance Jio has adopted a Standalone architecture since the launch of its 5G, securing a first-mover advantage in network performance; Bharti Airtel also pushed a 5G Standalone upgrade to its users in February 2026 and plans to deploy 56 edge data centers within 18 to 24 months, increasing data center installed capacity from 300 MW to 1 GW. Vodafone Idea's 5G services currently cover all 17 priority circles, contributing approximately 99% of revenue, and the company is prioritizing network investments in these high-value areas.
Earlier this month, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla returned to the company's board as Non-Executive Chairman, after which the board approved the issuance of up to 47.3 billion rupees in convertible warrants to group entities. The company is simultaneously negotiating additional debt financing with a consortium of banks, currently seeking 250 billion rupees in bank loans and 100 billion rupees in letters of credit to support the continued expansion of network infrastructure.
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