THE SENIOR ANALYST
Jan 2014
Bharti Airtel is a part of Telecom sector. The
sector is facing several significant issues, some
due to competitors and some due to government
regulations. However, Indian market is still
nascent in terms of highly technological
advancements as experienced by western world.
With advent of technology, the sector will only
grow further and will be driving the GDP. As of
now, the telecom sector contributes 3% ($ 52bn)
of overall Indian GDP. The important policies
which will impact the sector are unified licence,
spectrum sharing, free roaming, MNP. Niche
companies such as Comviva are going to be the
face of service providers, understanding
subscribers’
requirements
and
providing
customized services. Also, the equipment
manufacturing sector has still not developed and
its growth will complement the telecom service
industry.
6.
With interest rate being high, as most
telecom companies are high on debt, the interest
expense is quite high, and borrowing has been
reduced.
1. The licenses will be up for renewal in
November 2014, where to retain some of the
licenses, they will have to pay a hefty sum, or give
up licenses and start bidding from the base price.
Recent News:
2. The government disallowing sharing of 3G
roaming, has affected the number of consumers
using the VAS, as the companies have limited
circles in which they can operate.
3. There is a proposal to refarm the 900MHz band
to 1800 MHz band, and if the companies want to
remain in the 900 MHz band, they will have to
pay retention fee, which is very large.
4.
Govern