Telecom companies see tower rentals fall for first time in five years

Telecom tower companies in the country have reported “massive” tenancy losses over the past one-and-a-half years, with tower rentals starting to fall during the second half of fiscal 2018.

This is the first time the rentals have fallen in the past five years.

The tower rentals in the past 12 quarters indicate a stabilising trend till the first half of fiscal 2018 and then a drop for the first time in five years in the second half of fiscal 2018 owing to tenancy losses, according to study by Crisil.

The recent merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular has resulted in over 57,000 tenancy losses. Further reduction of about 21,000 tenancies is expected in the first half of fiscal 2020, it said.