Without tariff hike, telcos' growth eases to six-quarter low
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : India’s telecom sector growth slowed to a six-quarter low in the December quarter despite higher data consumption and growth in home broadband subscriptions, as the benefits of earlier tariff hikes had largely run their course, analysts said. During the third quarter of 2025-26, the telecom operators’ revenue rose 2% quarter-on-quarter and 9% year-on-year to ₹72,700 crore.
The growth is lower than the double‑digit expansion seen during the previous five quarters as the tariff hike benefits are now fully behind, brokerage house BNP Paribas said in an 11 February note. “Mobile capex is moderating for Jio and Airtel. Both companies are channelling new capex into home broadband, enterprise services, and data centres, opening new avenues for growth.
A further tariff increase later this year remains our base case," the brokerage said in the note. Telecom operators are currently divided on tariff hikes. Reliance Jio has clearly stated that it has no immediate plans to increase mobile phone tariffs.
In fact, it has signalled confidence in organic growth in its average revenue per user (Arpu), driven by rising 5G usage. “We are quite happy with the traction—1% (quarterly) increase in Arpu. Over the last year, it has gone up by almost 5-5.5%.
We have certain handles to improve the Arpu while contributing more value to the customers, and that's what we will continue to focus on," Anshuman Thakur, head of strategy at Reliance Jio, said during an earnings call with analysts in January. Jio Platforms, parent of Reliance Jio, is looking at an exchange listing in the first half of 2026. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, meanwhile, have been calling for a tariff revision to improve returns
. Read on livemint.com