Telco Daily: Kyivstar/AAF, BT/Bharti Airtel, UK fibre war, TEF

Research evidence excerpt

Telco Daily: Kyivstar/AAF, BT/Bharti Airtel, UK fibre war, TEF

Equity Research

22 May 2026

Telco Daily

Kyivstar/AAF, BT/Bharti Airtel, UK

fibre war, TEF

We highlight latest research, news flow and significant European Telecom Services

observations relevant to our stock coverage across European/ NEUTRAL

CEEMEA Telecoms, and Global Towers/Satellites. European Telecom Services

Mathieu Robilliard

+44 (0)20 3134 3288

•• Kyivstar - Resilient telco, Accelerating digital expansion mathieu.robilliard@barclays.com

BBI, Paris

•• Airtel Africa - Mobile money opportunity intact, Costs and capex in focus

Maurice Patrick

•• BT - Bharti Airtel reportedly eyes higher BT stake without triggering takeover +44 (0)20 3134 3622

maurice.patrick@barclays.com

•• UK fibre war - CommunityFibre returns to network expansion and targets 2m premises Barclays, UK

Ganesha Nagesha

•• Telefónica - Sells iconic Gran Vía headquarters for over €200m +91 (0)22 6175 1712

ganesha.nagesha@barclays.com

Barclays, UK

Detailed stories Maxime Delaugerre

+44 (0)20 3555 5672

maxime.delaugerre@barclays.com

Kyivstar - Resilient telco, Accelerating digital expansion

Kyivstar delivered strong Q1 results and upgraded its FY26 outlook, supported by continued

execution. The digital business is scaling rapidly, with revenue up sharply (driven by Uklon and

Tabletki and ~60% organic growth ex-M&A), now ~21% of group revenue and increasing

multiplay adoption supporting engagement and monetisation. The telco core remains resilient,

with steady subscriber market share despite SIM base pressure, and strong ARPU growth (~14%)

driven by data usage and pricing discipline. Kyivstar management indicated ARPU growth is

sustainable, driven by structurally higher data consumption and continued pricing discipline to