Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Indus Towers Shares Fall After TRAI Data, Jio Deal With Starlink

Shares of telecom companies fell during trade on Wednesday, after Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Reliance operated Jio Platforms Ltd. announced partnerships with Elon Musk's Starlink. Vodafone Idea Ltd. and Indus Tower Ltd. shares fell the most.

Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s tie-up with Elon Musk's Starlink will complement the telecom operator's existing services, and expand rural coverage. The main aspect to focus on is pricing, according to analysts like JPMorgan and Citi.

Pricing will be key in this partnership as this is likely to be positioned as a premium service, complementary to FWA and Airtel Fibre services largely for small business users, according to JPMorgan.

A day after Airtel announced its partnership, Jio Platforms Ltd. also announced a similar deal with the Elon Musk company.

Separately, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released data for December on Tuesday, which showed Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd. added mobile subscribers during the month.

However, Vodafone Idea Ltd.'s subscriber loss widened.

Overall, the total number of mobile subscribers in the country rose by 20.1 lakh in December, marking a recovery from the 17.7 lakh net loss seen in November. Jio added a net 39.1 lakh mobile subscribers during the month, higher than the 12.1 lakh subscribers in November.

Airtel added 10.3 lakh subscribers in December, reversing the loss of 11.4 lakh users in the previous month. Vodafone Idea lost 17.2 lakh subscribers in December, against a loss of 15 lakh in November.

Bharti Airtel stock rose as much as 3.23% during the day to Rs 1,716.6 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 1.24% lower at Rs 1,642.30 apiece, as of 11:42 a.m., compared to a 0.64% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50.

It has risen 37.18% in the last 12 months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 3.1 times its 30-day average. Relative strength index was at 53.2.

Thirty of the 35 analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating on the stock, three recommend a 'hold' and two suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The 12-month analysts' consensus target price on the stock is Rs 1,863.9, implying an upside of 12.8%.

Vodafone stock rose as much as 4.90% during the day to Rs 6.98 apiece on the NSE. It was trading at its intra-day low, compared to a 0.20% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 10:44 a.m.

It had declined 41.12% in the last 12 months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 1.4 times its 30-day average. Relative strength index was at 64.8.

Four of the 21 analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating on the stock, three recommend a 'hold' and two suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The 12-month analysts' consensus target price on the stock is Rs 8.33, implying an upside of 18.8%.

The shares of Indus Towers were trading nearly 7% lower at Rs 317 apiece, compared to a 0.40% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50. The stock had declined as much as 7.41% in trade on Wednesday so far.

Jio operator Reliance was the only stock trading in the green — 0.24% higher. The stock had risen as much as 1.26% in trade so far.