New Delhi, April 27: Telecom major Bharti Airtel today reported a near 3 per cent increase in net income at Rs 1,290 crore for the fourth-quarter ended March against Rs 1,255 crore a year ago, boosted by a higher data use by customers.

Net income stood at Rs 1,117 crore in the preceding quarter.

Revenues rose 8.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 24,960 crore, the highest in seven quarters, as the company ended the January-March period with 357.4 million customers across India, South Asia and Africa.

Bharti is preparing to fend off billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, which is planning to enter the industry this year with 4G services.

For the entire 2015-16, the company's net income stood at Rs 5,484 crore (Rs 5,183 core), while total revenues touched Rs 96,532 crore (Rs 92,039 crore).

Its India revenues for the quarter, at Rs 18,328 crore, grew 11.7 per cent year-on-year, adjusted for the impact in the reduction of termination rates.

Mobile data revenues at Rs 3,357 crore grew 44.5 per cent in India, led by an increase in the data customer base and traffic. Mobile data revenues contribute 23.3 per cent to India revenues vis-à-vis 17.6 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Data average revenue per user grew Rs 21 to Rs 196 during the quarter, led by a 31 per cent increase in use per customer.

Bharti today announced its plans to buy back Rs 1,434 crore shares at Rs 400 apiece. The company's shares today rose 3.5 per cent to Rs 373.15 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Telenor hints at exit

Posting a huge operating loss of 3,100 million Norwegian Krone (around Rs 2,530 crore) for its Indian telecom business, Telenor today hinted at exiting India if it failed to procure spectrum at reasonable rates.

At the same time, the Indian arm of Telenor is looking to expand its 4G footprint and said it would offer the lowest tariff for these services as part of its affordable pricing strategy.