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Informist, Friday, Jul. 18, 2025

MUMBAI – Telecom stocks are likely to keep consolidating next week, but may fall a bit if the overall sentiment in the market remains weak, analysts said. Stocks in the sector have underperformed over the last few weeks, having started 2025 on a strong footing, with global brokerage UBS having downgraded the likes of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea due to lofty valuations and uncertainty regarding the timing of a tariff hike.

Next week, telecom stocks are likely to track the overall market, analysts said. Bharti Airtel, which lost 1% this week, is likely to move in a range of INR 1,850-INR 1,950 in the coming week, an analyst at a domestic brokerage said. Vodafone Idea, which rose nearly 8% during the week, is likely to move in a range of INR 7-INR 8.5. On Friday, Bharti Airtel ended 1.5% lower at INR 1,901 and Vodafone Idea closed 0.5% lower at INR 7.72.

There is also uncertainty surrounding the sector after Starlink got the government's approval to enter the Indian market, marking the entry of a satellite internet player in the internet and broadband market. Providing satellite internet pan-India will require capital expenditure of INR 80 billion and an additional annual operating expenditure of INR 3.5 billion, JM Financial said in a report. "...all-in satellite internet service cost could be very high at INR 11,250/sub(subscriber)/month if it only serves 0.1 mln subs (million subscribers), but that could fall sharply to INR 450/sub/month if a satellite player is able to garner 2.5 mln subs (million subscribers)," the brokerage said.

Hence, Starlink may also target the business-to-consumer segment in India by introducing $20-$25 per month plan for early adopters and later launching the service at an attractive price of $10 a month for the mass segment, while also looking for opportunities in the business-to-business and business-to-government segments, the brokerage said. "This can pose some market share risk to Indian telcos' home broadband business in the long term, though telcos are also trying to offer satellite internet services via tie-ups with global satellite players," it said.

"...technical constraints for development of direct-to-cell (D2C) technology may get resolved in the next 3-5 years... however, D2C technology delivers a far inferior performance than traditional wireless connectivity services," the report said. Thus, the brokerage said the entry of satellite internet is unlikely to disrupt the wireless business of Indian telecom operators.

TOP HEADLINES

* Crisil Ratings ups Bharti Airtel's long-term credit rating to AAA from AA+
* Route Mobile Apr-Jun consol net profit falls 6% on quarter to INR 532.10 mln
* Earnings Review:Tata Comm Q1 consol PAT slumps 82%, steepest fall in 19 qtrs
* Earnings Outlook: Slow sales growth, high base to hit Tata Comm's Q1 PAT
* Just Dial Apr-Jun PAT rises 1.3% QoQ to INR 1.6 billion
* MTNL defaults on outstanding bank loans, interest of INR 85.9 bln
* Tejas Networks consol net loss widens QoQ to INR 1.94 billion in Apr-Jun
* Railtel Corp gets work order worth INR 2.64 bln from East Central Railway
* HC asks Lava to deposit INR 200 mln on Dolby's patent infringement plea
* HFCL board OKs expansion of intermittent bonded ribbon cable mfg capacity

Following are the resistance and support levels for the stocks for next week as per calculations by Informist based on their prices on the National Stock Exchange:

End

Reported by Akash Mandal

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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