India currently has around 35% of its towers fiberised and the rating agency expects that the capex required to fiberise the adequate number of towers to provide a sturdy network base would be close to Rs. 3 lakh crore over the next 4-5 years, stated ICRA.

Further, the telecom industry has continued to report healthy improvement in its operating metrics as reflected by improvement in ARPU levels and consistent growth in telephony usage. 

The rollout of 5G services in select pockets in India has kick-started as estimated by ICRA, post the latest round of auctions, which took place in August 2022. 

The full scale 5G deployment across the country will entail densification of the network and thereby sizeable investments in fiberisation. India currently has around 35% of its towers fiberised and the rating agency expects that the capex required to fiberise the adequate number of towers to provide a sturdy network base would be close to Rs. 3 lakh crore over the next 4-5 years. 

Further, the telecom industry has continued to report healthy improvement in its operating metrics as reflected by improvement in ARPU levels and consistent growth in telephony usage. 

ARPU has already crossed Rs. 170 mark in H1 and is likely to touch Rs. 180 by the end of the fiscal. This has translated into healthy growth in industry AGR over the last few
quarters. However, the debt levels continue to remain high and the same further increased post the conclusion of the last round of auctions. The industry is expected to close the year with a debt of around Rs. 6.3 lakh crore as on March 31, 2023.