India’s top two operators—Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio—are entering a phase where they are expected to generate strong profits and returns for shareholders over the next three years.

The push for 5G is driving more premium customers, home broadband is expanding and new digital services for businesses—such as cloud, AI, and cybersecurity—are opening up fresh revenue streams for the operators, according to a note by brokerage house ICICI Securities. Also Read | Telecom a victim of regulatory overreach but problems lie elsewhere: Airtel MD

An updated outlook for the sector has come at a time when telecom operators have been complaining about weak return on capital employed (RoCE) amid weak 5G monetization and low telecom tariffs.

Jio is also looking at listing on the stock exchanges

See Full Page