Bharti Airtel, Vi shares rise up to 2% after Aug mobile subscriber data. Which is Nomura’s top pick?

Shares of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) gained up to 2% on Tuesday after data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed that India added 55 lakh mobile subscribers in August, with Reliance Jio continuing to hold the top spot after adding 24 lakh users.

Bharti Airtel added 21 lakh subscribers, while Vodafone Idea added over 5 lakh mobile subscribers during the month, extending its rebound since February this year, data released by TRAI showed on Monday. Bharti Airtel shares traded marginally higher at Rs 1,772.60 apiece, while Vi shares gained nearly 2% to trade at Rs 13.68 apiece on Tuesday morning.

Jio's overall mobile subscriber base rose to 50.84 crore from 50.6 crore in July, while that for Airtel increased to 49.16 crore from 48.95 crore. Vi's mobile subscriber base increased to 19.96 crore from 19.91 crore, while BSNL's rose to 9.37 crore from 9.32 crore.


Also read | India adds 5.5 million mobile users in August; Jio, Airtel drive bulk of gains: TRAI

Jio remains India's largest mobile operator

Jio remained India's largest mobile operator with a 39.31% subscriber market share at the end of August, followed by Airtel at 38.01%. Vi held 15.43%, while BSNL accounted for 7.24%, data showed.

"Total wireless subscriptions in urban areas increased from 753.86 million in July 2026 to 759.11 million in August 2026. The subscription in rural areas also increased from 552.40 million to 553.14 million during the same period," TRAI said. Accordingly, the monthly growth rate of urban and rural wireless subscriptions stood at 0.70% and 0.13%, respectively.

Private telecom operators continued to hold the lion’s share in the mobile market, accounting for 92.75% of wireless mobile subscribers at the end of August, while state-owned BSNL and MTNL together held the remaining 7.25%.

Also read | Jio leads India’s August mobile subscriber additions, Airtel close behind: TRAI

Meanwhile, telecom operators were mandated to take action against pesky callers or spammers flagged by their AI-based caller ID system, even without the need for consumers filing complaints, a TRAI notification said.

Nomura on telecom operators

Vodafone Idea last week introduced free international roaming (IR) with its postpaid plans starting at Rs 501, annual prepaid unlimited data plans, and corporate plans starting at Rs 451 for enterprise customers. Nomura noted that this is the first time free IR has been offered on mass-market prepaid, postpaid and enterprise plans as a standard inclusion, rather than as a paid add-on pack. “We think that the latest differentiated offering from Vi is unlike what the telecom operators currently offer via bundling such as OTT, software, cloud, and AI model subscriptions. In international markets such as the US, Singapore, and the EU (by law), inclusive international roaming has been a mainstream plan feature for years.”

The international brokerage thinks it is a smart move by Vi aimed more at subscriber retention (and growth) by sacrificing a bit on ARPU, though overall revenue may be positively impacted due to improved traction on subscriber growth. In the near term, there may be minor revenue losses for telcos, but Nomura thinks that with industry subscriber growth largely saturated, all three telcos would want to earn more from existing users, and premiumization is a way to achieve that.

Vi’s aggressive IR bundling may be a minor irritant for Bharti, which the international brokerage thinks may wait to see the response and launch a similar bundled plan later. IR isn't Jio's primary battleground, as its focus is mass-market data monetization and up-selling via content, having a lower exposure to IR compared to Bharti and Vi, it noted, adding that even if Jio were to offer similar perk to its customers, the earnings impact may be minimal.

Nomura forecasts 14% consolidated EBITDA CAGR for Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio each over FY26-29, underpinned by a likely tariff hike of around 15% during Q3 FY27. “We expect a slightly higher 15% EBITDA CAGR for Vi on a lower base amid improving operating metrics. Bharti remains our top pick among the telecom stocks under our coverage. We maintain our Neutral rating on Vodafone Idea given significant valuation premium vs Bharti, while the cash flow situation remains stretched,” it added.

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here.