Where we are vs where we need to be
With 5G technology, the infrastructure sector will catch up and add a plethora of opportunities
The telecom sector is already reeling under a debt of Rs 4.25 trillion
The deductions will be allowed for payment made to acquire spectrum. Actual payment will be considered irrespective of the method of accounting
The tariff war that started with the entry of Reliance Jio (RJio) in the telecom sector is causing mobile operators to introduce new plans to retain the existing customers
Sinha said that the telecom sector's history has been glorious and it has been a success story
The six service providers are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, Reliance Communications, TATA Tele and Idea
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised its outlook on the telecommunications services sector for FY17 to stable-to-negative, from stable. The agency expects the launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJio) to intensify competition, which will squeeze market share, Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margins and credit metrics of incumbents. Ind-Ra expects voice revenues to moderate in FY17 on stagnant minutes of usage (MoU) and further competition in call realisations.The agency expects data revenue to remain stagnant on a 30-40 per cent decline in data realisations/megabyte in FY17, driven by RJio's launch, while support from data consumption growth to average data revenue per user will be gradual.Operators' debt profile would deteriorate in FY17 as the agency expects them to incur high capex on network expansion and acquisition of additional spectrum through trading, largely to compete with RJio.Ind-Ra expects competition to intensify as R