Airtel now world’s second-largest telecom operator; Hits 650 million users

Bharti Airtel, the Indian telecom operator, has now crossed 650 million users globally. But the real highlight is not just about numbers, but the fact that it has now made it the second-largest telecom operator in the world. Airtel is now just behind China Mobile, which dominates the World’s telecom subscribers with over 1 billion on its network. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra price drops to its lowest level during Amazon Prime Day 2026

Interestingly, Airtel’s growth isn’t coming from just one market. India is obviously a big chunk, with over 368 million users, but Africa is equally important in this story. As per a report shared by Airtel, while quoting GSMA Intelligence, Airtel has been building slowly, not just with mobile networks, but also with basic financial services across multiple African countries. That’s where products like Airtel Money come in, especially in regions where traditional banking isn’t as accessible. Also Read: Vodafone Idea postpaid users now get free Spotify Premium for three months

Back in India, the telecom company has been pushing its ecosystem with 5G rollout, AirFiber for home internet, and bundled services that go beyond just calling and data. Also Read: Telegram returns to India after NEET-UG restriction: What to do if the app is still not working

More than a telecom company 

Airtel isn’t really operating like a traditional telco anymore. It’s moving into financial services, cloud, cybersecurity, and enterprise tech, basically trying to become a broader digital platform. Plus, the recent NBFC is another highlighted step, where Airtel plans to offer loans and credit products through its app. Makes sense, considering the kind of user data and reach it already has.

A lot of Airtel’s push is also happening behind the scenes. Things like data centres, subsea cable networks, and satellite internet partnerships don’t show up directly to users, but they’re important. Especially with the rising demand for cloud and AI workloads, this infrastructure is going to matter more going forward.

The satellite bit is also interesting — it’s clearly aimed at solving connectivity in places where towers just don’t work well.

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What about India?

However, Airtel still remains second in India despite having a strong user base globally. The first is the Reliance Jio, which crossed 500 million customers last year. It must be noted that Jio has a user base in India only.