Telecom Plus Valuation Multiples

SoftBank is a Japan-based telecom and e-commerce conglomerate that has expanded mainly through acquisitions, and its key assets include a 40%-owned mobile and fixed broadband telecom operator business in Japan. It also owns 90% of semiconductor chip designer Arm Holdings following the 2023 IPO of this business, and has a vast portfolio of mainly internet- and e-commerce-focused early-stage investments. It is also a general partner of the USD 100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund 1 and sole investor in SoftBank Vision Fund 2, both of which primarily invest in pre-IPO internet and AI companies. Recently, it has begun investing in OpenAI.

China Mobile is not only the largest telecom operator in China by the number of mobile subscribers (1 billion) but also the largest in the world. It has 60% of the total wireless market in China and over 50% of the fixed-line broadband market. The firm has largely rolled out its 5G network, having launched 5G service in late 2019. It is doing some 5G network sharing with China Broadnet at 700 MHz and also resells its 3G/4G/5G network through China Broadnet. Growth is being generated through internet data centers where it has the second-largest network in China and through Cloud Services. The company issued stock on the A-share market in 2022 and completed its first buyback of H-shares.

Deutsche Telekom merged its T-Mobile USA unit with prepaid specialist MetroPCS in 2013, and that firm merged with Sprint in 2020, creating the second-largest wireless carrier in the US. T-Mobile now serves 86 million postpaid and 26 million prepaid phone customers, equal to around 30% of the US retail wireless market. The firm entered the fixed-wireless broadband market aggressively in 2021 and now serves 8 million residential and business customers with its wireless network. It also serves 1 million fiber broadband customers through joint ventures with fiber network owners. T-Mobile owns a stake in these firms, which provide wholesale access to their networks. In addition, T-Mobile provides wholesale services to wireless resellers.

Wireless services account for 75% of Verizon Communications' total service revenue and nearly all of its operating income. The firm serves about 94 million postpaid and 20 million prepaid phone customers via its nationwide network, making it the largest US wireless carrier. Fixed-line telecom operations include local networks in the Northeast that reach about 30 million homes and businesses, including about 20 million served by the Fios fiber-optic network. Verizon closed its acquisition of Frontier Communications in January, adding networks that reach another 15 million locations, including 9 million with fiber. These networks serve about 11 million broadband customers. Verizon also provides telecom services nationwide to enterprise customers, using a mix of its own and other networks.

NextEra Energy's regulated utility, Florida Power & Light, is the largest rate-regulated utility in Florida. The utility distributes power to over 6 million customer accounts in Florida and owns 36 gigawatts of generation. FP&L contributes roughly 70% of NextEra's consolidated operating earnings. NextEra Energy Resources, the renewable energy segment, generates and sells power throughout the United States and Canada with nearly 40 GW of generation capacity, including natural gas, nuclear, wind, and solar.

The wireless business contributes nearly 70% of AT&T’s revenue. The company is the third-largest US wireless carrier, connecting 74 million postpaid and 17 million prepaid phone customers. Fixed-line enterprise services, which account for about 14% of revenue, include internet access, private networking, security, voice, and wholesale network capacity. Residential services, about 11% of revenue, primarily consist of in-home broadband internet access, serving 15 million customers. AT&T also has a sizable presence in Mexico, with 25 million wireless customers, but this business only accounts for 3% of revenue. The company recently sold its 70% equity stake in satellite television provider DirecTV to its partner, private equity firm TPG.

Deutsche Telekom is Germany's incumbent telecom operator and remains the dominant player in mobile and fixed markets. It also owns a controlling stake in T-Mobile US—one of three primary wireless carriers in the United States—which merged with Sprint in 2020, consolidating the market from four to three operators. Aside from its two core markets, Deutsche Telekom operates in several Central European countries and holds an IT arm (Systems Solutions).

Iberdrola is one of the largest utilities in the world with electric utility operations in nearly 40 countries. The company has a 57-gigawatt portfolio of hydro, wind, natural gas, and nuclear power plants. It is one of the largest owners of wind farms in the world, representing about 40% of its portfolio. Although the company has recently developed or acquired distribution and power generation assets in other geographic areas, Spain is still home to more than half of its power generation capacity. Iberdrola also owns and operates electricity and distribution networks in Spain, the UK, Brazil, and the US.

Bharti Airtel Ltd is a telecommunications company. The company's segments include Mobile Services India, Mobile Services Africa, Mobile Services South Asia, Airtel Business, Passive Infrastructure Services, Homes Services, Digital TV Services, and others. It generates maximum revenue from the Mobile Services India segment. Mobile Services India services cover voice and data telecom services provided through wireless technology (2G /3G/4G) in India. It includes the captive national long-distance networks, which provide connectivity to the mobile services business in India. It also includes intra-city fibre networks.

Enel is a diversified energy company domiciled in Italy. Operations are concentrated in Italy, Spain, and Latin America. The firm's primary activities are electric generation, electric networks, and gas and electricity marketing. Around 35% of the company's EBITDA is derived from its regulated networks, the rest is from generation and supply. Enel is a giant in global power generation with 81 gigawatts of capacity, of which 56 GW is renewables, including a large share of hydro.

Southern is one of the largest utilities in the US. The company serves 9 million customers with vertically integrated electric utilities in three states and natural gas distribution utilities in four states. It owns 44 gigawatts of rate-regulated generating capacity, primarily for serving customers in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Subsidiary Southern Power owns 13 gigawatts of natural gas generation and renewable energy across the US and sells the electricity primarily under long-term contracts.

Constellation Energy Corp producer of carbon-free energy and a supplier of energy products and services. The company offers generating capacity that includes nuclear, wind, solar, natural gas, and hydroelectric assets. It sells electricity, natural gas, and other energy-related products and sustainable solutions to various types of customers, including distribution utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, and commercial, industrial, public sector, and residential customers in markets across multiple geographic regions. Its operating segments and reporting units are Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New York, ERCOT, and Other Power Regions.

Duke Energy is one of the largest US utilities, with regulated utilities in the Carolinas, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Kentucky that deliver electricity to more than 8 million customers. Its natural gas utilities serve more than 1.6 million customers.

Comcast is made up of three parts. The core cable business owns networks capable of providing television, internet access, and phone services to 65 million US homes and businesses, or nearly half of the country. The firm provides services to about 47% of the locations in this territory. Comcast acquired NBCUniversal from General Electric in 2011. Following the spinoff of several cable networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, and USA, NBCU now consists of the NBC network, several local NBC affiliates, Bravo, the Peacock streaming platform, Universal Studios, and several theme parks. Finally, Sky, acquired in 2018, is a large television provider in the UK and Italy.

China Telecom is the largest fixed-line operator in China, originally covering 21 southern provinces but now operating nationally. It has 200 million broadband customers, and 437 million wireless subscribers, having overtaken China Unicom to become the second-largest wireless operator in China behind China Mobile. The firm is increasing its cross-selling of products and seeing strong growth from industrial digitization services, such as internet data centers and cloud computing. Its internet data center business is already the largest in China and it is expanding overseas.

National Grid owns and operates the electric transmission system in England and Wales. It sold the bulk of its UK gas transmission business in fiscal 2023 to fund the acquisition of PPL's UK power distribution assets. In the Northeastern United States, it serves electricity and gas customers combined in three states. It also owns regulated transmission and electricity generation in the United States, metering services, merchant transmission lines in the UK, and the Grain (UK) liquefied natural gas facility.

Engie is a global energy firm formed by the 2008 merger of Gaz de France and Suez and the acquisition of International Power in 2012. It changed its name to Engie from GDF Suez in 2015. The company operates Europe's largest gas pipeline network in France and a global fleet of conventional and renewable power plants with 67 GW of capacity on a consolidated basis. Engie also operates a diverse suite of other energy businesses.

America Movil is the largest telecom carrier in Latin America, serving about 330 million wireless customers across the region. It also provides fixed-line phone, internet access, and television services in most of the countries it serves. Mexico is the firm’s largest market, providing about 35% of service revenue. Movil dominates the Mexican wireless market with about 60% customer share and also serves about half of the country's fixed-line internet access customers. Brazil, its second most important market, provides about 20% of service revenue. Movil sold its low-margin wireless resale business in the US to Verizon in 2021 and now owns a 1.4% stake in the US telecom giant. The firm also holds a 61% stake in Telekom Austria.

NTT owns NTT DoCoMo, the largest wireless operator in Japan, with 53 million mobile handset subscribers. It also owns NTT East and NTT West, the two regional incumbent fixed-line operators in Japan, with about 23.6 million broadband lines (around 72% of which are wholesaled). The firm also provides IT and communications systems integration via NTT Communications and NTT Data.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co PJSC which is majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi government is a fully integrated energy provider with operations in nine markets around the world. Its segment includes Power and Water Generation segment, Power and Water Transmission and Distribution segment, Oil and Gas segment, Water Solutions Segment. The company generates the majority of its revenue from Power and Water Transmission and Distribution segment, which is engaged in generation of electricity and production of desalinated water for supply in UAE and generation of electricity in Morocco, India, Ghana, and Saudi Arabia. Geographically the company generates the majority of its revenue from UAE.

American Electric Power is one of the largest regulated utilities in the United States, providing electricity generation, transmission, and distribution to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. About 39% of AEP's capacity is coal, with the remainder from a mix of natural gas (28%), renewable energy and hydro (23%), nuclear (7%), and demand response (3%). Vertically integrated utilities, transmission and distribution, and generation and marketing support earnings.

SoftBank is an established, telecommunications services provider in Japan owning a mobile network with around 50 million mobile customers and 24% market share. It also provides some fixed line services, which are mostly resold so are low margin. The company also owns 32.4% of LY Corp, and SoftBank and LY Corp each own 32% of PayPay so SoftBank consolidates PayPay. SoftBank Group sold 33.5% of SoftBank Corp in an IPO in 2018 and has since sold down further to a 40% holding.

KDDI is Japan's second-largest wireless operator (30% market share), the largest pay-TV operator (53% market share) and the second-largest provider of fibre-to-the-home broadband (12% market share). It has grown through acquisition and is focusing on increasing the number of customers who subscribe to more than one telecommunication service. It is also looking to grow its Life Design business which includes commerce, energy, and finance and had over 53 million Internet of Things connections by the end of June 2025.

Saudi Telecom Co offers telecommunications, information and media services that establish, manage, operates and maintains fixed and mobile telecommunication networks and systems to customers. The company manufactures and markets devices, equipment, and components of different telecommunication networks including fixed, moving and special networks, and computer programs and the other intellectual properties. It is also engaged in real estate investment activities. The company principally earns its revenue from airtime usage, messaging, data services, interconnect fees, connection fees and device sales. Its reportable segments include: stc; Channels; Solutions; stc Kuwait; stc Bahrain; Center 3; STC Bank; Sirar; Specialized; iot2; and Other operating segments.

Sempra Energy serves one of the largest utility customer bases in the United States. It distributes natural gas and electricity in Southern California and owns 80% of Oncor, a transmission and distribution business in Texas. Sempra Infrastructure partners, of which Sempra will hold a 25% ownership, owns and operates liquefied natural gas facilities in North America and infrastructure in Mexico.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, Dominion Energy is an integrated energy company with over 30 gigawatts of electric generation capacity and more than 90,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. Dominion is constructing a rate-regulated 5.2 GW wind farm off the Virginia Beach coast.

Singapore Telecommunications is Singapore's leading telecoms company. It owns extensive wired and wireless networks offering data and voice services to a broad customer base. Singtel's diverse investment portfolio spreads across the region. The firm wholly owns Optus in Australia and minority equity stakes in Airtel (28%) in India; Telkomsel (35%) in Indonesia; Globe Telecom (47%) in the Philippines; and Advanced Information Services (23%) and Intouch (21%) in Thailand. Singtel is majority-owned by the Singapore government.

Orange operates fixed-line and wireless businesses in France, where it is the market leader ahead of Iliad, Bouygues, and SFR, thanks to its incumbent position. It also has telecom businesses in Spain (through MasOrange), Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Central Europe (Romania, Slovakia, and Moldova). Around 20% of revenue comes from emerging African markets, where it mainly operates wireless networks, and 20% comes from the enterprise segment, which serves companies with more than 50 employees in France and internationally.

Since completing the transformative deal with RWE in 2019, E.On has two core businesses: energy networks and customer solutions. Its retail supply serves around 47 million customers primarily in Germany, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden. Its networks business operates in Germany, Sweden, Eastern Europe, and Turkey.

Vistra Corp. is one of the largest power producers and retail energy providers in the USA. It owns 44 gigawatts of generation capacity, including natural gas (27 GW), nuclear (6.5 GW), coal (8.7 GW), and solar and battery storage (1.4 GW). The Cogentrix acquisition will add 5.5 GW of gas generation. Vistra's retail electricity business serves 5 million customers in 20 states, including almost a third of all Texas electricity consumers. Vistra emerged from the Energy Future Holdings bankruptcy as a stand-alone entity in 2016.

Entergy is a holding company with five regulated vertically integrated utilities that generate and distribute electricity to 3 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. It is one of the largest power producers in the country with 27 gigawatts of rate-regulated owned and leased power generation capacity. Entergy was the second-largest nuclear owner in the US before it began retiring and selling its plants in the Northeast in 2014. It sold its two small gas utilities in Louisiana in 2025.

Xcel Energy manages utilities serving 3.9 million electric customers and 2.2 million natural gas customers in eight states. Its utilities are Northern States Power, which serves customers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; Public Service Company of Colorado; and Southwestern Public Service Company, which serves customers in Texas and New Mexico. It is one of the largest renewable energy suppliers in the US, with more than half of its electricity sales coming from carbon-free energy.

Adani Power Ltd is an electric utility company that produces and transmits energy from its portfolio of power plants located throughout India. The company produces its energy using thermal fuel sources, such as coal but also owns facilities that utilize solar and steam generation. The company's electricity sales are structured through long-term agreements. Its business segments include Power Generation and related activities, which generates key revenue, and Trading, Investment, and other activities. Geographically, the company generates a majority of its revenue from India.

Exelon serves approximately 10 million power and gas customers at its six regulated utilities in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.

Since the deal with E.On, RWE is refocused on power generation, mostly in Europe. It owns 38 gigawatts of power generation capacity: 17% from lignite and hard coal plants, 36% from gas plants, 40% from renewables including pumped storage and batteries. Besides Germany, RWE’s power plants are chiefly located in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United States for many onshore wind farms.

Emirates Telecommunications Group Co PJSC is a telecommunications company. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides telecommunication and consulting services, media services, and equipment to over sixteen countries in Asia and Africa. Etisalat specializes in fixed-line services, voice communication, wireless communication, and data communication services. The majority of the company's revenues profits and assets relates to its operations in the UAE.

Swisscom is the incumbent telecom operator in Switzerland, with a very high market share in mobile and fixed-line markets. It charges high prices compared with its competitors and other European peers due to the historical stability of the Swiss telecom market and a favorable regulatory environment. In 2024, Swisscom acquired Vodafone Italia in a deal worth EUR 8 billion.

Endesa generates, distributes, and supplies electricity in Spain and Portugal. The company has 21.5 gigawatts of installed generation capacity split among hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas, oil, solar, and wind. Endesa also supplies gas to retail and business customers in Spain and France.

Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications company, with dominant market shares in voice, mobile, enterprise telecom, and fixed-line broadband resale via the national broadband network. The former government monopoly provides most of its services via its infrastructure assets, such as a fixed-line network (data centers, exchanges, poles, ducts, pits and pipes, fiber network), a mobile network, and mobile towers. Its customers span retail, corporate, government, wholesale, and overseas segments. Telstra also provides the government-owned, last-mile fixed-line National Broadband Network with long-term access to its infrastructure, in return for recurring payments. Finally, Telstra operates a leading telecom operation in Papua New Guinea and the surrounding South-Pacific countries.

Public Service Enterprise Group is the holding company for a regulated utility (PSE&G) and PSEG Power, which owns all or a share of three nuclear plants and clean energy projects. PSE&G provides regulated gas and electricity delivery services in New Jersey to a combined 4.3 million customers. Public Service Enterprise Group also operates the Long Island Power Authority system under a contract extension through 2030. In 2022, the company sold its gas and oil power plants in the mid-Atlantic, New York, and the Northeast.

Con Ed is a holding company for Consolidated Edison of New York, or CECONY, and Orange & Rockland, or O&R. These utilities provide steam, natural gas, and electricity to customers in southeastern New York—including New York City—and small parts of New Jersey. The two utilities generate nearly all of Con Ed's earnings following the sale of its clean energy business to RWE in early 2023.

ACWA Power Co is engaged in developing, investing, operating, and maintaining power generation, water desalination, and green hydrogen production plants, and bulk sale of electricity. The company's segments include Thermal and Water Desalination, Renewables, and Others. It generates maximum revenue from the Thermal and Water Desalination segment. Geographically, the company generates maximum revenue from Saudi Arabia, followed by other markets in the Middle East and Africa.

SSE is an integrated utility based in the United Kingdom. The bulk of SSE's profit comes from the company's power generation businesses and its electricity transmission and distribution networks. The firm is also involved in smaller related businesses such as gas storage and energy services.

NTPC Ltd is an Indian state-owned electric utility company. It is the power producer in India and supplies a significant amount of the nation's total needs. The company generates revenue through the sale of electricity to state-owned Indian power distribution companies from its stations throughout the country. NTPC also brings in a significant amount of revenue through its consultancy wing, which provides project management and supervision, energy trading, oil and gas exploration and coal mining. While the vast majority of its facilities use coal and gas fuel sources, NTPC has also increased its capacity through renewable energy sources, such as hydroelectric, solar, and thermal power, and plans to continue this trend going forward.

PG&E is a holding company whose main subsidiary is Pacific Gas and Electric, a regulated utility operating in Central and Northern California that serves 5.3 million electricity customers and 4.6 million gas customers in 47 of the state's 58 counties. PG&E operated under bankruptcy court supervision between January 2019 and June 2020. In 2004, PG&E sold its unregulated assets as part of an earlier postbankruptcy reorganization.

WEC Energy Group's electric and gas utility businesses serve electric and gas customers in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin service territories. The company also owns a 60% stake in American Transmission Co. WEC's asset mix is approximately 49% electric generation and distribution, 30% gas distribution, 10% electric transmission, 9% unregulated renewable energy, and 2% LNG distribution and generation.

Chunghwa Telecom Co Ltd is Taiwan's integrated telecom operator, providing fixed-line, wireless, and Internet and data services. The company segment consists of Consumer Business, Enterprise Business, International Business, and Others. The company generates the majority of its revenue from the Consumer Business segment. The consumer Business segment generates revenue from Mobile services, Fixed-line services, Sales, and others.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority PJSC is engaged in water desalination and distribution and its generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, throughout the Emirate of Dubai. The group is organized into four segments; DEWA is engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and water desalination, transmission and distribution to residential, commercial, industrial, and government; EMPOWER is engaged in the provision of district cooling, maintenance of central cooling plants and manufacturing and sale of insulated pipes; IWPP is engaged in the development, operation and maintenance of power and water plants; and Others operations include purification and sale of potable water, and other. It generates maximum revenue from the DEWA segment.