Mumbai, Jan 23 (IANS): Telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel on Wednesday reported a rise of nearly 11 per cent in its consolidated net profit during the quarter ended December on a year-on-year basis.

The consolidated net profit of the company during the third quarter stood at Rs 648.4 crore, against Rs 585.4 crore reported in the year ago period, Bharti Infratel said in a statement.

The consolidated total income of the company during the period under review rose by 2.51 per cent to Rs 17,595 crore from Rs 17,163 crore earned during the corresponding period of previous financial year.

Commenting on the quarterly results, Akhil Gupta, Chairman, Bharti Infratel, said: "The consolidation and integration phase in Indian telecom industry is largely over."

"We are now looking at the next phase of network and related infrastructure rollouts by operators -- first for 4G and subsequently for rapidly evolving 5G -- to cater to the ever-growing demand for data," he added.