According to a Citi research report, the mobile data revenue of the operators will register a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 per cent between 2015 and 2020. The report further says that the share of mobile data in the total revenues of the operators will increase from 18 per cent in 2015 to 31 per cent in 2020. On the other hand, the revenue from the voice segment will grow at a rate of 3 per cent annually.  The report forecasts the overall revenue growth for the industry at 6 per cent per annum.

The report contends that the high growth in mobile data will be driven partially by the introduction of affordable handsets and 4G services by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) in December 2015.  The report says that with relatively inferior spectrum and long term evolution (LTE) delays, Idea Cellular will lose the most in terms of revenue share. For Bharti Airtel, the market-share impact could be the least given its superior spectrum.

With regards to Reliance Communications (RCOM), the report feels that the operator could end-up trading its spectrum with RJIL, as opposed to sharing.