Telecom Services valuation multiples
Worldwide, the median listed telecom operator was valued at 7.7x EBITDA and 17.4x normalised earnings at 30 September 2026. By region, the median was 6.3x in the United States, 6.8x in Europe, 9.5x in Japan and 10.9x in Emerging Asia.
Global 150 listed telecom operators at 30 September 2026
median
median
median
median
*Excludes companies with negative EBITDA. **Excludes companies with negative normalised earnings. ***Excludes companies whose EBITDA does not cover their capital spending. How the figures are built
| EV/EBITDA | P/E | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Companies | Median | Aggregate | Median | Aggregate |
| Global | 132 | 7.7x | 6.4x | 17.4x | 14.7x |
| United States | 15 | 6.3x | 6.3x | 12.0x | 11.4x |
| Europe | 33 | 6.8x | 6.0x | 17.7x | 16.4x |
| Japan | 10 | 9.5x | 8.8x | 21.3x | 15.4x |
| Emerging Asia | 46 | 10.9x | 6.4x | 19.6x | 20.0x |
Companies: those in the EV/EBITDA median. Median: the typical telecom operator. Aggregate: the industry as a whole, total value over total revenue, earnings or book value, with larger companies weighing more and loss-makers included. Worldwide and in Emerging Asia the larger companies trade on lower multiples than the typical one, so the aggregate sits below the median. n/m: not meaningful, or too few companies. How both are calculated
Valuation multiples by sector and region
What listed companies trade on worldwide, by region and sector, in ten pages. It may be shared and quoted with attribution to Siblis Research.
- Market multiples for eight regions: EV/EBITDA, P/E, EV/Sales, P/B
- 13 sectors by region: EV/EBITDA and P/E
- The most and least expensive industries
- Twelve quarters of history
| Multiple | Global | United States | Europe | Japan | Emerging Asia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV/EBITDAEnterprise value to EBITDA; share-based pay counted as an expense. The key multiple for telecom operators. | 7.7x | 6.3x | 6.8x | 9.5x | 10.9x |
| EV /Enterprise value to EBITDA less capital spending. | 12.0x | 10.4x | 12.5x | 13.5x | 13.2x |
| P/FCFMarket value to free cash flow. | 11.2x | 9.5x | 10.3x | 14.7x | 13.1x |
| P/ENormalised earnings: one-off items removed. | 17.4x | 12.0x | 17.7x | 21.3x | 19.6x |
| Ratio | Global | United States | Europe | Japan | Emerging Asia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | 34.1% | 34.8% | 35.2% | 26.8% | 30.9% |
| Capex to revenue | 14.3% | 14.1% | 15.4% | 5.9% | 14.0% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.9x | 3.5x | 2.2x | 0.4x | 1.5x |
| Free cash flow yield | 7.1% | 7.5% | 9.7% | 5.0% | 5.4% |
Each ratio is the median of the companies that report the figure. Revenue growth compares the last twelve months with the twelve months before.
Global
- China Mobile LtdChina
- Verizon Communications IncUS
- T-Mobile US IncUS
- AT&T IncUS
- Deutsche Telekom AGGermany
of 150 companies
United States
- Verizon Communications IncUS
- T-Mobile US IncUS
- AT&T IncUS
- Comcast CorpUS
- Lumen Technologies IncUS
of 19 companies
Europe
- Deutsche Telekom AGGermany
- Orange SAFrance
- Swisscom AGSwitzerland
- Vodafone Group plcUK
- BT Group plcUK
of 35 companies
Japan
- NTT IncJapan
- SoftBank CorpJapan
- KDDI CorpJapan
- Internet Initiative Japan IncJapan
- GMO internet group IncJapan
of 10 companies
Emerging Asia
- China Mobile LtdChina
- Bharti Airtel LtdIndia
- China Telecom Corp LtdChina
- Chunghwa Telecom CoTaiwan
- Advanced Info Service PCLThailand
of 53 companies
Subscribers get the figures of all 150 companies at 30 Sep 2026, and of every company in earlier quarters, delisted ones included, with their key multiples, size band, last reporting date and data flags. Every median and aggregate can be checked company by company, and every company figure traced back to that company's own filings.
| Sub-industry | Covers | EV/EBITDA | P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated Telecom | Incumbent fixed-line and integrated carriers | See plans | See plans |
| Wireless Telecom | Mobile network operators | See plans | See plans |
| Alternative Carriers & Fiber | Competitive carriers, fiber networks, VoIP | See plans | See plans |
Global medians, 30 Sep 2026
Global median EV/EBITDA, 12 quarters
Telecom Services in the full data
High margins, heavy capital spending
The median telecom operator earns an EBITDA margin of 34.1% and spends 14.3% of its revenue on its networks. EBITDA flatters a business that has to keep rebuilding its network, so EV/(EBITDA − capex), 12.0x at the median, is the usual cross-check on the EV/EBITDA of 7.7x.
The largest operators trade lower
The aggregate EV/EBITDA, 6.4x, is below the median: the largest operators trade on lower multiples than the typical one. Companies above USD 10bn trade at a median 7.0x EBITDA, against 11.0x for small caps.
The United States: down, and the most indebted
The median US operator trades at 6.3x EBITDA, down from 9.2x in Q4 2023 and the lowest of the four regions, with the highest median net debt, 3.5x EBITDA. Europe's median has risen from 6.1x to 6.8x. Emerging Asia has the highest median, 10.9x.
What EV/EBITDA multiple do telecom operators trade at?
The median listed telecom operator traded at 7.7x EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) at 30 September 2026, across 132 companies above USD 100m; the aggregate was 6.4x. United States 6.3x, Europe 6.8x, Japan 9.5x, Emerging Asia 10.9x.
What is the median P/E of telecom operators?
17.4x at 30 September 2026, across 100 companies; the aggregate was 14.7x.
Should a valuation use the median or the aggregate?
The median, with the 25th and 75th percentiles of a peer group close to the target in sub-industry and size. The aggregate describes the industry as an investor holding all of it would see it, and it is pulled towards the largest companies.
Do these figures include private telecom operators?
No. They cover listed companies with a market value above USD 100m. Data for US companies of USD 25–100m is available to subscribers as a separate universe.
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Companies with a market value above USD 100m whose main business is fixed-line, mobile and broadband network operators, listed on the largest stock markets in every region. Delisted companies are included for the dates they were listed, so past figures carry no survivorship bias.
Financial statements come from official filing databases where they exist, such as SEC EDGAR in the United States and EDINET in Japan, and otherwise from the companies' own published reports.
150 telecom operators at 30 September 2026. The number changes every quarter as companies list, delist or change industry. Companies with accounts more than about nine months old, and holding companies whose results are mainly revaluations of their investments, are left out.
The typical company: each counts once, from at least five values. A company with negative EBITDA, operating profit or normalised earnings is left out of the median of that multiple, as are multiples above 50x for EV/Sales or 100x for earnings multiples. So each median has its own number of companies.
The industry as a whole: total value over total revenue or earnings in US dollars, each company weighted by its free float, loss-makers included. Where one company is more than half the industry's value, the aggregate mostly describes that company; use the median.
Each figure uses only the financial statements public on the valuation date, over the last twelve months. Later restatements never change it.
Market value plus debt, preferred equity and minority interests, less cash. Lease liabilities are included on the IFRS 16 basis.
Restructuring, deal and litigation costs are added back; share-based pay stays an expense. Adjusted EBITDA adds share-based pay back as well.
Net earnings with one-off items removed, such as impairments, restructuring costs and disposal gains. The P/E uses these, never reported earnings.
Cite this page
Siblis Research (2026). Telecom Services Valuation Multiples [Data set]. Valuation date 30 September 2026. siblisresearch.com/valuation-multiples-by-industry/telecom-services/
Charts on this page may be reproduced with attribution to Siblis Research and a link to this page.
@misc{siblis_telecom_services_multiples,
title = {Telecom Services Valuation Multiples},
author = {{Siblis Research}},
year = {2026},
note = {Valuation date 30 September 2026},
url = {https://siblisresearch.com/valuation-multiples-by-industry/telecom-services/}
}