Telecom consolidation: Who gains most from govt's spectrum cap decision?

Vodafone-Idea and Reliance Jio will be the key gainers of the government's decision to remove the cap on holding spectrum

The Narendra Modi-led central government on Wednesday decided to relax the cap on the amount of spectrum individual telecom service providers can hold and extended the payments tenure. The move will help ease the telecom sectors cash flow woes and aid the process of ongoing consolidation efforts.

Amid the pricing war in the sector, driven mainly by Reliance Jio’s disruptive run so far, the telecom market has shrunk from 15 players in 2011-12 to just four now – Telenor and Tata Teleservices have merged with Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications is selling its assets to Reliance Jio, and Idea and Vodafone