How 5G is shaping up: Largely to be a duopoly with Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel

With Jio likely rolling out standalone 5G, Bharti Airtel would be under pressure to have a similar network in the coming years, foreign brokerage BofA Securities said in a report.

‘In our view, this raises the risk of Bharti acquiring 700 MHz in the next auction (pricing likely to be similar to this auction). Even capex investments should be higher – first to roll out NSA and then standalone 5G,’ the report said.

‘We hence see 5G-related investments as likely to remain high for a couple of years. We consider 5G largely to be a duopoly between Jio and Bharti in the consumer space and expect both Bharti and Jio to emerge as dominant players even in the consumer space with bundled 5G offerings,’ BofA Securities added.