, Columnist
Timeout in India's Billionaire Dogfight
Consolidation in the nation's telecom market would help operators prune debt and hone profitability.
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After a year of bloodletting, India's telecom industry is on the cusp of a well-deserved breather.
But don't look for the billionaires in this dogfight to declare a truce. Bharti Airtel Ltd., controlled by Sunil Mittal, is still struggling to hold on to price-sensitive customers in smaller cities and towns, whereas Vodafone Plc's local unit, as well as Idea Cellular Ltd., led by Kumar Mangalam Birla, are losing users pretty much everywhere. The top three players' quarterly earnings will once again show pressure on revenue and profitability.