Key Points
Telecom revenues are sluggish as market leaders Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel spread their 5G networks without raising tariffs as aggressively..
Complaints of predatory pricing have been made - not for the first time in the rather chequered history of India's telecom industry - without much by way of solution to inevitable market consolidation..
The industry has acquired its capacity to invest in the latest generation cellular networks after the government sweetened terms for spectrum payments and sharing revenue..
The benefits of quicker network rollout and its effects on tax revenue weigh in favour of rational spectrum prices and telecom tariffs..
Telecom is acquiring an economic role as vital as energy, and the government should draw its conclusions from price distortions in the electricity industry that has hobbled private investment..
