Telecom Companies' Data Revenues To Double In Two Years: CLSA

Mumbai: Predicting data revenues for telecom operators to double to $11 billion by 2017-18, top brokerage CLSA has said the much-awaited commercial entry of Reliance Jio would drive the market further.

Even as existing operators have begun to focus on content, the key differentiator will be network delivery, or quality and download speed - areas that have intensified ahead of Reliance Jio's entry, CLSA said in its latest report.

"Given that each operator's content is not exclusive and the service differentiation will be led by network experience, operators are rolling out 3G/4G at an accelerated pace," the brokerage said.

"Also given that content with each operator is not exclusive and can be replicated, we believe content is not going to be the key differentiator among operators."

"Over fiscal years 2015-16 to 2017-18, we expect data revenues to double and Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are best-placed to gain, given their lead in spectrum as well as higher fibre and sites on network," CLSA added.

Qualifying this, the study says the data revenues will more than double to $11 billion and drive a 9 per cent compounded annual growth rate in the industry revenues to $34 billion, despite the low penetration of data on mobile.

"While the 3G/4G adoption has picked up with subscribers tripling over the past two years to 133 million, penetration is still low at mere 13 percent," it said.

"Even with total mobile data subscribers at 312 million, mobile data penetration remains low at 31 percent, implying a large growth potential. Reliance Jio's much awaited 4G service launch this year should help to accelerate this data adoption and expand the market further."