High spectrum, network deployment cost to take toll on telecom industry: Airtel

New Delhi: High spectrum price and cost of deploying networks are expected to take take a toll on debt-ridden telecom sector, a senior official of Bharti Enterprises said on Monday. Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal while speaking at India Mobile Congress 2019 said 75 per cent of cost of deploying optical fibre in the country for high speed broadband is the fees charged by local authorities.

“Current reserve price is seven times higher than the global peers’. When we look at the entire ecosystem that needs to be built, user cases for 5G technology needs to be built. This high price coupled with more capex deployment on sites and fibre is going to take a toll on telecom sector,” Mittal said.

He said currently average revenue per user in telecom sector in India is around USD 1.5 compared to USD 36 in the US and USD 6.5 in China.