Summary

Telecom networks in the country are facing heavy internet traffic as business traffic has shifted
to residential areas due to the lockdown and work from home. The impacts of COVID-19 crisis
on the sector are:

 In the ongoing COVID-19 scenario, the telecom sector is enabling 30%–35% of India’s
GDP, in addition to 6% direct contribution to the GDP.
 Due to COVID-19 and work from home, Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is expected
to increase by 5%–10% with growing data traffic exponentially
 Mobile services EBITDA is expected to increase by 15% in FY21
 In addition, CapEx and OpEx are expected to reduce in 2020 and will rebound quickly
owing to 5G related initiatives
 On account of the increased load over the network, operators are collaborating with their
competitors for tower load sharing
 To enhance the bandwidth, OTT players have reduced streaming quality from high
definition to standard

 I n the current scenario, when the world is reeling under the coronavirus pandemic, communication
plays a very crucial role in delivering the information with accuracy, helping us to connect to our
dear ones. Life seems to be incomplete with no internet and communication

India’s population and a competitive telecom market have led to a multi-fold increase in the number
of subscribers in this sector. The Telecom industry in India is the second-largest in the world with a
subscriber base of over 1.2 bn with a tele-density of 86.22% as of September 30, 2020. Gross
revenue of the telecom sector stood at Rs. 66,858 crores in the first quarter of FY21.

The telecommunication sector became an ‘indispensable service’ for connectivity purpose during
COVID difficult situations. During the lockdown of the country also, the telecom segment facilitated
for the smooth and effective performance of many tasks and services of the economy. ‘Work from
Home’, Financial Institutions , Education area, entertainment, news and other many key services
were functioned with uninterrupted connectivity; and were also approachable safely from home in
addition to promising connectivity with family and friends who are far away

The post COVID-19 era is resulting in emergence of digital and innovative organisations and the
telecom sector has a foundational role to play in this transformation through convergence and
capitalization of multiple technologies such as 5G, AI, Machine-to-Machine and IoT to build a robust
ICT infrastructure.

30-35% of the GDP is enabled by telecommunications in the lockdown out of over

54% of the total services sector contribution.

The COVID-19 pandemic—perhaps more than any other event in human history— has
demonstrated the critical importance that telecommunications infrastructure plays in keeping
businesses, governments, and societies connected and running. Because of the economic and social
disruption caused by the pandemic, people across the globe rely on technology for information, for
social distancing, and working from home.

Telecom companies have been strengthened by the short-term spike in data traffic and
increased use of broadband services, as more people are working from home and rely on
video conferencing to hold meetings.

Increasing period of lockdown will seek a flexible and resilient telecommunication facilities to satisfy the
increasing needs of companies and individual due to work from home policy. As per a data and analysis of
telecom companies, it is also expected that COVID-19 will boost developments in advanced digital
infrastructure systems, and may result into the demand of 5G technology.