Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Mumbai:BHARTIARTL- message board), India's largest mobile operator, has put in another strong quarter of growth, reporting a 53 percent increase in revenues and a doubling of net profit during its fiscal first quarter. (See Bharti Reports Q1.)

    The carrier reported net income of 15.12 billion Indian rupees (US$374.63 million) on revenues of INR59.05 billion ($1.46 billion), compared with profits of INR7.55 billion ($187.07 million) and revenues of INR38.56 billion ($955.4 million) in the first quarter of last year. Analysts polled by Reuters Research had expected a net profit of INR14.76 billion ($365.71 million).

    During the quarter, Bharti signed up 5.56 million new mobile customers and 101,000 fixed-line and broadband customers, taking its total customer base to 44.68 million. That was its highest-ever quarterly growth in mobile subscribers, pushing its share of the Indian wireless market to 23.5 percent, up from 21.1 percent in the first quarter of last year.

    But there were signs that Bharti’s push towards adding lower-end subscribers, particularly in rural areas, is slowing revenue growth. Revenues were below analysts’ estimates of INR59.58 billion ($1.48 billion), as average revenue per user (ARPU) fell to INR390 ($9.66) from INR441 ($10.93) last year. Average minutes of use were 478 per month, up from 441 last year, but only 3 minutes higher than last quarter.

    During the quarter, Bharti cut prepaid connection fees and the price of overseas calls -- a reflection of the highly competitive Indian market, where calls are as low as 2 cents per minute. Bharti’s share of new customers dropped to 29.3 percent, from 32.6 percent in the fourth quarter.

    The operator’s share price on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell today by INR21.55 (53 cents), or 2.3 percent, to close at INR925.25 ($22.92), largely on profit taking -- the stock has gained 10.7 percent this month.