Telecom tariffs need to rise 50% for the industry to be back on its feet: Naveen Kulkarni

Naveen Kulkarni, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, says it would probably take two to three years for the telecom industry to return to a situation where it can deliver meaningful numbers. In an interview with ETNow, he said Vodafone IdeaNSE 3.79 % has an arduous path ahead, given the many hurdles it faces. Edited excerpts:-

Going by government sources and what analysts are projecting, we seem to be headed for a 15-20% hike in telecom tariffs in this round. How is it going to impact profitability of Bharti and Vodafone? Could we expect more hikes after this round?
The tariff hike in the first round could be higher, probably more than 20 per cent, because that window is there. They would want to raise tariffs as quickly and as much as possible in this round itself. Thereafter, we will have to wait and watch what happens to the sustainability of these tariffs.