Blended tariff to decline in India by up to 6% : Fitch

Increase in competition and capital expenditure will put pressure on telecom operators in Asia including India where blended tariff may decline in the range of 5-6 per cent in 2017, rating agency Fitch today said.
"Competition could be the most intense in India, where a well-capitalised new entrant, Reliance Jio, is offering free voice and text services and cheaper data tariffs than the incumbents. We expect the blended tariff to decline by 5%-6% for Indian telcos," Fitch said in a statement.
It said fiercer competition and rising capex needs will put pressure on the credit profiles of most Asian telcom operators over the next year, Fitch said.

"We have a negative outlook on the telecoms sectors in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Korea, Indonesia, China and Sri Lanka are all on stable outlook," the rating agency said.
Data usage will continue to rise strongly, but most telcom operators are pricing data in such a way that increased usage is not translating into similar revenue growth, the agency said.
Thai, Philippine and Indian telcos are likely to have the highest capex to revenue ratios, at around 28-30 per cent, as they strengthen 4G networks in response to fast-growing data consumption and rising importance of network quality.

In contrast, Chinese telcom operators capex could decline by 10 per cent as their 4G development cycle has peaked, Fitch said.