Bharti Airtel’s Direct-to-Home (DTH) segment reported a 2.93 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in revenue, posting Rs 761 crore for Q3FY25, down from Rs 783.7 crore in the same quarter last year. Despite efforts to simplify pricing and introduce new partnerships, the company struggled with subscriber retention, seeing a 1.9 percent YoY dip in its customer base.

Airtel’s Digital TV business, which operates under its Airtel Xstream brand, ended the quarter with a customer base of 15.8 million, unchanged from the previous quarter (Q2FY25) but down from 16.1 million in Q3FY24.

The company’s Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) grew 3 percent YoY to Rs 442.5 crore, compared to Rs 428.5 crore in the same quarter last year. However, EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) saw a massive 97 percent YoY drop, falling to Rs 1.2 crore from Rs 37.4 crore in Q3FY24, indicating a sharp hit to operational profitability.

Despite revenue pressures, EBITDA margins improved to 58.2 percent, up from 54.7 percent in the corresponding quarter last year.

The DTH subscriber base stood at 15.8 million, reflecting a YoY decline of 1.9% from 16.1 million but a marginal 0.2 percent growth over Q2FY25. The segment reported net customer additions of 29,000 in the quarter.

The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) rose to Rs 160, up from Rs 158 in Q2FY25, reflecting modest growth in user monetization.

Bharti Airtel continued to focus on market-specific strategies and differentiated converged offerings to drive growth. A key highlight of the quarter was the company’s partnership with Glance, which introduced Glance TV on Airtel Xstream devices powered by Android TV OS.

The company also invested Rs 425.2 crore in capital expenditure (CapEx) during the quarter, reflecting ongoing infrastructure enhancements and content innovation efforts.

While Bharti Airtel’s Digital TV segment continues to hold a significant market share, the YoY revenue decline and subscriber loss highlight ongoing challenges in the highly competitive DTH market, where OTT services are reshaping consumer preferences.

With Counting Day for the Delhi Elections and the upcoming general elections, Airtel could see short-term boosts in viewership and engagement, but long-term growth will depend on innovation in content delivery, pricing models, and customer retention strategies.