Airtel expands home Wi-Fi across J&K, Leh-Ladakh; stock hits 52-week high

Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel has announced the expansion of its home Wi-Fi services across all 22 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, and Leh-Ladakh, which it said would enable access to 1.1 million new households. Amid the development, shares of Airtel surged 4.75% to hit a 52-week-high of ₹1,652.65 apiece on the BSE today. Airtel’s stock closed at ₹1,635.75 on the BSE on Thursday, reflecting a 3.68% increase from its previous close of ₹1,577.70.

The stock opened higher today at ₹1,595.00, in sync with the strong broader market. The telecom giant’s market cap stands at ₹9,31,230.29 crore. Over the past month, the stock has climbed 12.33%, surged 36.06% in the last six months, and gained 61.74% year-to-date (YTD).

Airtel also announced the completion of additional spectrum deployment, which was acquired in July 2024. This deployment includes 5MHz on the 1800 band, aimed at enhancing Airtel’s 4G network in Chandigarh and Punjab, improving data speeds and voice quality.

The company says it secured an additional 97MHz of spectrum for Punjab in the recent spectrum auction, making it the holder of the largest mid-band spectrum in the state. Airtel’s varied spectrum holdings in the 900, 1800, and 2300 bands position it to meet growing demand for 4G and 5G services, it adds.

Speaking on enhancing the network of Chandigarh and Punjab, Pushpinder Singh Gujral, CEO, Upper North, Bharti Airtel, says, “With the integration of this new spectrum, customers across the state can now enjoy enhanced call connectivity, faster data speeds and an overall improved performance. We remain committed to Chandigarh‐Punjab and will continue to invest in technologies that will help elevate service experience for our customers.”

Additionally, Bharti Airtel also said that Airtel Business, its B2B division, signed an agreement with Italy's telecom provider ‘Sparkle’ for extra capacity on a low-latency route connecting Asia and Europe.