Private sector telecom service provider Vodafone Idea reported a consolidated net loss of ₹5,975 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, according to latest regulatory filings. This represents a significant deterioration from the previous quarter's loss of ₹3,754 crore and the year-ago loss of ₹5,524 crore, indicating continued financial challenges. The company's revenue from operations showed strong growth of 1.7% quarter-on-quarter to ₹11,884 crore compared to ₹11,689 crore in Q1 FY27, though EBITDA declined 1.1% QoQ to ₹4,981 crore from ₹5,034 crore in the previous quarter. However, EBITDA margins contracted by 120 basis points QoQ to 41.9% from 43.1% in Q1 FY27, though they remained flat year-on-year.
The telecom company's customer ARPU (average revenue per user) improved significantly to ₹198 in Q2 FY27, up from ₹180 in Q2 FY26, as reported by CNBC TV18. This 9.7% year-on-year improvement was primarily supported by customer upgrades, demonstrating better monetization of the user base despite the wider losses. The company's total customer base grew nearly 1% QoQ to 194.4 million from 193.1 million in Q1 FY27, indicating steady subscriber growth. However, the postpaid subscriber base showed exceptional growth of 6.3% QoQ to 33.9 million from 31.9 million in the quarter-ago period, marking the highest sequential increase in postpaid additions in nine quarters. The company also closed the quarter with 131.0 million 4G/5G subscribers, up from 127.8 million in the same period last year, while data usage improved from 73.6 PB/Day to 93.6 PB/Day, representing a 27.1% year-on-year increase.
The reported loss was significantly impacted by exceptional items totaling ₹462 crore in the quarter, primarily due to remeasurement of ₹328 crore of shares earmarked by Vodafone Group entities for a period of five years, according to CNBC TV18. This compared to a gain of ₹1,611 crore on these shares in the previous quarter. However, when adjusted for exceptional items, the company's loss was ₹5,513 crore in the reported quarter compared to ₹5,562 crore in Q2 FY26, showing some improvement in underlying performance. As of September-end, the fair market value of such earmarked shares stands at ₹3,972 crore, which can be sold later, and the proceeds will come to Vodafone Idea as part of the settlement. Additionally, Vodafone Idea under a pact with one of its promoters, Vodafone Group, qualified to get around ₹5,836 crore as part of a liability claim pact between the two companies, with Vodafone Group setting aside its 328 crore shares held in Vi for the company's benefit.
CEO Abhijit Kishore highlighted the company's aggressive network expansion progress, stating that capex orders worth over ₹13,200 crore were placed towards its three-year capex guidance, with nearly ₹6,000 crore capex already executed. The company expanded its 5G coverage to 400 Indian cities and towns across 17 key circles and added nearly 9,000 unique broadband towers during the quarter—its highest quarterly addition in nine quarters—taking its total unique broadband tower count to 214,000 at the end of September 2026, compared with 191,096 a year ago. The company's 4G population coverage reached 87.8% as of September 2026, extending coverage to an additional 45 million people since Q2 FY26, with plans to increase 4G coverage to over 95% in the 17 key circles. Kishore added that they have placed capex orders of over ₹13,200 crore, of which nearly ₹6,000 crore capex has been executed, and the company is confident to place additional orders to sustain the momentum in network expansion. The company also refreshed its brand identity in September 2026 and launched the campaign 'Vi pe sab hain VIP' featuring Shah Rukh Khan, while its enterprise arm Vi Business announced a strategic collaboration with Hindalco for a dedicated private network deployment.
The company secured total funding of over ₹10,500 crore through the first half of the current fiscal year, including warrants and fund- and non-fund-based facilities, with over ₹4,000 crore of incremental bank funding arranged in Q2 FY27. Vodafone Idea shares were trading 0.70% higher at ₹12.97 on the National Stock Exchange on November 12, 2026, following the earnings announcement. The company's total market capitalisation stands at ₹1.4 lakh crore as of November 12, 2026. The company's outstanding debt to banks as of September 2026 was ₹943 crore, far lower than ₹3,708 crore reported in the previous quarter, with bank debt at ₹943 crore while cash and bank balances were ₹5,470 crore. The company's deferred payment obligations towards spectrum stood at ₹1.31 lakh crore and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues stood at ₹26,264 crore.
