BofA expects Airtel, Jio to gain amid calm Indian competition

Indus Towers

18/09/2025 08:45

** BofA Securities expects Airtel BRTI.NS and Reliance's RELI.NS Jio to benefit from benign competitive environment, reducing capex-to-sales ratio, improving cash-flows

** Brokerage reiterates "buy" on both

** Reiterates "underperform" on Vodafone Idea VODA.NS and Indus Towers INUS.NS given unfavorable risk-reward

** Notes, VODA’s fundamentals remain weak even with relief, as it continues bleeding market share

** Shares of all three firms currently trading flat

** Says, near-term bounce in stocks cannot be ruled out if govt provides any telecom dues relief

** Expects two rounds of industry-wide tariff hikes; post that, ARPU to move in line with inflation

** Early investment in network capacity, aggressive pricing, adoption of emerging technologies over the next 5 years likely to determine which telcos lead the 2030 generative AI landscape - BofA

 (Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru)

 ((aleefjahan.cs@thomsonreuters.com))