Telecom stocks rallied 3-4% on Tuesday after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) released spectrum-sharing guidelines after market hours on Monday.
The telecom regulator said the basic objective of spectrum sharing is to provide an opportunity to the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to pool their spectrum holdings and, thereby, improve spectral efficiency.
Idea Cellular?s results for the June quarter gave further push to telecom stocks. Idea Cellular (4.83%), Bharti Airtel (4.81%) and Reliance Communications (3.72%) were among the major gainers.
Analysts say the additional spectrum usage charge on the shared spectrum could deter small players. ?The additional spectrum usage charge of 0.5% would deter smaller operators with unused spectrum from participating in spectrum sharing, but the larger ones could enter into arrangements in key circles in which they face spectrum crunch,? Hitesh Shah and Abhishek Gupta of IDFC Institutional Securities said in a report.
Experts maintain a positive outlook on the telecom sector even as the telecom stocks have underperformed the Sensex YTD. Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications have gained 6.9% and 4.16%, respectively, while Idea Cellular has declined 12.2% YTD.
