New Delhi: When Reliance Jio announced that it would begin charging 6 paise per minute charge for voice calls to rival networks, rivals Vodafone Idea termed the announcement “an action of undue haste” and Airtel said it was Jio’s strategy to reduce interconnection charges.
Reliance Jio entered the Indian telecom market in 2015 with the promise of ultra low-cost plans. And its plans promised free voice calls to consumers. Now Reliance Jio says it bore the cost of IUC for the free voice calls made from its network to others and the amount was whopping `13,500cr in IUC to other network providers in the last three years.
Rivals were also quick to point out that Jio’s decision didn’t bring out the fact that interconnect is a settlement between operators and not a consumer pricing matter.
“In our view, its Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s call for a consultation on IUC keeping in mind the continuing asymmetry in traffic and in line with its earlier stated position on the matter”, Vodafone Idea said.
Till now, TRAI hasn’t responded to Jio’s contention that it was forced to take the step due to regulatory uncertainty created by TRAI.
In fact, last month, TRAI did look at the option of deferring date for scrapping IUC and even floated the idea to see if there is a need to revise the applicable date for scrapping IUC, given the continuing imbalance in inter-operator traffic. Reliance Jio had hoped that the IUC will be abolished by January, 2020 and indicators are suggesting it will not happening as of now.
It’s no secret that when TRAI decided to scrap IUC, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had resisted the change, while Jio was in favour.
“The consultation paper has created regulatory uncertainty and therefore Jio has been compelled, most reluctantly and unavoidably, to recover this regulatory charge of 6 paise per minute for all off-net mobile voice calls so long as IUC charges exist,” the Jio statement said.
The Sunil Mittal-owned Airtel Bharti said: “On September 19, 2017, when TRAI reduced the IUC from 14 paise to 6 paise and proposed a move towards ‘bill and keep’ (zero IUC) with effect from January 1, 2020, it had specifically mentioned that the TRAI shall keep a close watch on developments in the sector, particularly with respect to the adoption of new technologies and their impact on termination cost. The TRAI, if deems it necessary may revisit the scheme of termination charge applicable on wireless-to-wireless calls after one year from the implementation of the regulation”.
Jio said that IUC charges will not be applicable on calls made by Jio users to other Jio phones and to landline phones and calls made using WhatsApp, FaceTime and other such platforms. Incoming calls from all networks will also continue to be free.
