Airtel and Voda-Idea remain risky bets

While the two stocks have witnessed a relief rally, their fundamentals remain worrisome

Policymakers have come to the unsurprising conclusion that the telecom sector is too big to fail. Airtel and Vodafone Idea would cease to be going concerns if they had to fork out a combined Rs 83,000 crore in Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) by January 2020. That would lead to the sector becoming a monopoly. It would also leave some 700 million subscribers in the lurch. Hence, the payment schedule for the outstanding AGR has been deferred. 

All three private operators are likely to hike tariffs in December. The long-awaited 5G spectrum auctions are quite likely to be delayed further. There will