The two leading telecommunications companies in India—Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio—are approaching a period where they are anticipated to deliver robust profitability and shareholder value over the coming three years.

The advancement of 5G technology is attracting higher-value customers, residential broadband services are growing, and emerging digital solutions for enterprises—including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity—are creating new income opportunities for these companies, as stated in a research report by ICICI Securities brokerage firm.

Considering the business prospects, the brokerage firm has estimated Jio's worth at $148 billion by 2027. Meanwhile, with the present stock price of Rs.2,029, Bharti Airtel's existing market capitalization stands at $132 billion, as reported by BSE. ICICI Securities has established a target stock price of Rs.2,400 for Bharti Airtel.

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This revised industry perspective emerges during a period when telecommunications companies have been expressing concerns about poor return on capital employed amid limited 5G revenue generation and reduced telecom pricing.

Jio is also considering a stock market debut in the early half of 2026, which would enhance market confidence. Industry experts anticipate that Jio's public offering will rank among India's biggest private sector initial public offerings.

This wealth-generating period in the telecommunications industry would occur after a 15-year interval.

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Additionally, telecommunications companies' overall market opportunity is growing through offerings like fixed-line internet, supplementary services, and corporate solutions, encompassing data centers, software-as-a-service platforms, and managed services, the experts noted.

Regarding the outlook for return on capital employed (RoCE), telecommunications companies are anticipated to experience improvements over the coming two years due to lower capital spending, as the subsequent spectrum renewal cycle will not commence until FY30.

ICICI Securities projections indicate that Bharti's return on capital employed will climb from 14.2 percent in FY25 to 28.4 percent in FY28, while Reliance Jio's RoCE is forecast to increase from 14.3 percent in FY25 to 21.4% in FY28.

This improvement will be facilitated by a decline in spectrum net block as a proportion of gross block. The brokerage firm noted that recapitalization efforts may only begin in FY30 and later years.

It is worth noting that up until FY20, the industry experienced a period of capital erosion characterized by equity dilution, higher debt levels, and minimal returns to shareholders.

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Market experts highlight that Indian telecommunications companies benefit from growing partnerships with international technology corporations to offer their services in the Indian market.

As an illustration, Bharti Airtel has recently formed an alliance with Perplexity to offer its customers access to the generative AI platform. The firm has also established a partnership with Google for an AI data center. In a similar fashion, Jio maintains strategic alliances with international companies.