Will Singtel face a double whammy in its local and Indian market?

Bharti Airtel will soon be against a formidable rival.

Aside from the threat of the upcoming fourth telco in Singapore, Singtel also has to face tighter competition with its stake in India’s Bharti Airtel.

According to UOB KayHian analyst Jonathan Koh, Bharti Airtel is up for its major challenge, as its upcoming rival Reliance Jio captures consumers' mindshare with its attractive tariffs.

He noted that Reliance Jio is already targeting 100 million subscribers by commencing commercial services this month. AS a welcome offer, services will be free for 90 days until the end of the year.

"The attractiveness of Reliance Jio’s service offering was breath-taking. All voice
calls are free and there will be no domestic roaming charges. Data is priced at the
cheapest rate of Rs50/GB. The pricing structure is simplified to just 10 tariff plans," Koh said.

With this, the analyst said Singtel has been hit with a double whammy, with competition heating up both in Singapore and India.

"Singtel has corrected 8.3% last week due to concerns over increased competition in Singapore and India. We believe the retracement last week has factored in negative developments in both Singapore and India," he said.

Meanwhile, Koh noted that Singtel will be the least affected by a fourth mobile operator in Singapore as overseas businesses accounts for about 70% of its bottom-line.