According to Crisil Intelligence, India’s telecom sector is expected to remain among the strongest performers in the June quarter, with services revenue projected to grow around 13 per cent year-on-year despite the absence of any fresh tariff increases. The sector is also expected to outperform much of corporate India on profitability, supported by rising data consumption, subscriber premiumisation and resilient demand for digital connectivity.
Crisil Intelligence estimates telecom services revenue reached approximately Rs 454 billion in the June quarter. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margins are expected to remain resilient, expanding by 50-80 basis points even as aggregate corporate EBITDA margins are projected to contract by 75-100 basis points due to higher energy, freight and logistics costs.
As per the research firm, telecom has remained one of the few sectors to sustain both revenue growth and margin improvement despite a challenging operating environment for corporate India more broadly.
India’s position as one of the world’s largest mobile data markets, supported by some of the lowest data costs per gigabyte globally, continues to underpin the sector’s performance. Rising smartphone penetration, particularly in rural markets, the migration from feature phones to smartphones and increasing adoption of over-the-top platforms are driving higher data consumption and supporting operator earnings. Crisil Intelligence, however, cautioned that prolonged delays in tariff revisions could eventually weigh on revenue growth.
