Telecom - India: 1Q preview: Steady momentum; limited surprises

Research evidence excerpt

Telecom - India: 1Q preview: Steady momentum; limited surprises

Accessible version

Telecom - India

1Q preview: Steady momentum; limited

surprises

Earnings Preview

1QFY27: Another stable quarter… 09 July 2026

We consider telcos sector to be a defensive sector (given utility business with less Equity

volatility) and remain positive on the industry. We reiterate our Buy ratings on Bharti India

given its inexpensive valuations and Underperform ratings on Indus Towers & VIL as we Telecom Services

find the risk reward unfavorable. Sachin Salgaonkar >>

Research Analyst

Bharti: Another stable quarter; Steady momentum BofAS+91 22India6632 8667

We expect Bharti to report a stable set of numbers in 1Q aided by steady momentum sachin.salgaonkar@bofa.com

across segments. We estimate 377.6 mn mobile users at end of 1Q & implied ARPU to Pankaj Mehendiratta >>

improve 1.6% qoq, leading to 2.8% qoq growth in cellular revenues. We estimate the ResearchBofAS IndiaAnalyst

“Homes business” revenues to increase 33% yoy as Bharti continues to gradually expand +91 22 6632 8684 pankaj.mehendiratta@bofa.com

its FWA presence and model enterprise revenues to improve 5% yoy. We estimate

Bharti’s consolidated EBITDA margin to be flat qoq at 56.9% and expect capex to decline KaushikResearch Gurumurthy,Analyst CFA >>

qoq (except Home broadband capex). BofAS India

+91 22 6632 8357

kaushik.gurumurthy@bofa.com

Indus: Softer tower adds; VIL: Slower growth vs peers

Indus: Tower rollout in 1Q was softer due to gas disruption as it is used for tower

making (galvanizing steel). We hence expect a slower tower net additions run-rate at 3K

(vs 4.9K in last quarter). We expect the backlog of towers to be added over the next

ARPU: Average Revenue per User; FWA: Fixed

couple of quarters.