INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kolkata/New Delhi: With 2G to 4G conversions practically at a standstill owing to Covid 19 restrictions, overall growth in data usage and
revenue for the likes of Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea may fall short of expectations in FY21, despite the current phase of
higher mobile internet consumption, say analysts.
They added that telcos could partly offset the revenue impact by monetising higher home
internet usage during the lockdown
But that too is likely limited as subscribers working from home have loads of unused data that they are carrying forward, and thus are
the financial performance of the Big 3 telcos could get affected if the severity of Covid19 is higher than expected
the December quarter, helped by rising smartphone penetration and more feature phone-to-smartphone conversions
Experts also expect smartphone makers to struggle in restarting their units at full swing after the lockdown as staff may be slow in
returning to work.
Rajan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), downplayed the impact, saying the
negative impact of a temporary slowdown in conversions could be offset by an upsurge in data usage amid the lockdown
Sathish Gopalaiah, partner and telecom sector leader, Deloitte India
Besides, Bharti Airtel is offering 150 GB data monthly for Rs 799 whereas, Reliance Jio has doubled data offers even as its tariffs were at
VIL does not offer meaningful home broadband services.
Mobile data traffic too is estimated to have shot up by 20-25%, said CLSA
