India’s biggest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, announced a drop in net profit for the quarter to 30 September 2011, with the company noting foreign exchange losses and costs associated with the rollout of its 3G network.

For the three months, it reported net income of INR10.27 billion (US$209 million), down 38 percent from INR16.61 billion, on total revenue of INR172.7 billion, up 13 percent from INR152.3 billion. The company noted that the rollout of its 3G network has resulted in higher amortisation costs (with an impact of US$36 million) and increased net interest costs (US$25 million impact).

Airtel noted a number of highlights for the period. Tariff increases in India have begun to take effect, “offsetting some of the inflationary and other cost increases impacting the entire industry.” Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and MD , said that: “the arrest of continuously declining prices in India augurs well for the telecom industry.”

It said that sales in its India and South Asia business continued to grow at a double-digit rate, increasing by 11.7 percent to US$2.78 billion.

And revenue from its Africa units also passed US$1 billion in a quarter for the first time, increasing by 22.9 percent to US$1.03 billion. In this region, the company has launched 3G services in Congo-Brazzaville and Airtel Money services in Zambia and Kenya, as well as acquiring 2G and 3G licences in Rwanda.

On a group level, Airtel now has 227 million mobile subscribers, an increase of 21 percent year-on-year. The bulk of these (178.6 million) are in its core India and South Asia business.