NEW DELHI: Market leader Bharti Airtel Thursday asked sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to look into the ‘incredible asymmetry’ of new entrant Reliance Jio’s voice calls terminating on to its network which could deteriorate the experience of consumers on its network.
"We request Trai to examine the incredible asymmetry of calls terminating on the Airtel network from Jio due to free services being offered by Jio, " it said in a statement , adding that the continued asymmetry will degrade the customer experience for Airtel customers over time and melt-down networks.
Sunil Mittal-driven telco has also said that it has provided a total 17,000 points of interconnection (PoI), including 7,000 additional PoIs, which were sufficient to support as much as 75 million Jio’s subscribers.
The telco added that Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio should now ensure that the additional interconnection points be operationalised with the same promptness as they have been made available at a staggering pace by it.
Airtel blames Jio’s welcome offer, promising freebies, as a probable reason for causing the disproportionate voice traffic to its network.
In a recent interaction with ET, Bharti Airtel’s chief executive Gopal Vittal said that the telco has provided the adequate number of interconnection points but there have also been issues at Jio's end in terms of readiness.Bharti Airtel’s chief executive Gopal Vittal said that the telco has provided the adequate number of interconnection points but there have also been issues at Jio's end in terms of readiness.
"Our regulatory obligations permit us to provide interconnect in a period of 90 days. This will help identify any network related issues, which Jio may have in their network," Airtel in a statement said.
On June 21, Mumbai-based Reliance Jio had asked existing players to provide support to interconnect an estimated 22 million of its customers by June this year, 50 million by September, 75 million by December and 100 million subscribers by March 2017.
While Airtel claims to have been providing PoIs to Jio, even before the commencement of latter’s commercial operations, rival Jio sought regulatory intervention that led Trai to penalize India’s top carrier for Rs 1,050 crore for violating Quality of Service (QoS) norms.
"We request Trai to examine the incredible asymmetry of calls terminating on the Airtel network from Jio due to free services being offered by Jio, " it said in a statement , adding that the continued asymmetry will degrade the customer experience for Airtel customers over time and melt-down networks.
Sunil Mittal-driven telco has also said that it has provided a total 17,000 points of interconnection (PoI), including 7,000 additional PoIs, which were sufficient to support as much as 75 million Jio’s subscribers.
The telco added that Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio should now ensure that the additional interconnection points be operationalised with the same promptness as they have been made available at a staggering pace by it.
Airtel blames Jio’s welcome offer, promising freebies, as a probable reason for causing the disproportionate voice traffic to its network.
In a recent interaction with ET, Bharti Airtel’s chief executive Gopal Vittal said that the telco has provided the adequate number of interconnection points but there have also been issues at Jio's end in terms of readiness.Bharti Airtel’s chief executive Gopal Vittal said that the telco has provided the adequate number of interconnection points but there have also been issues at Jio's end in terms of readiness.
"Our regulatory obligations permit us to provide interconnect in a period of 90 days. This will help identify any network related issues, which Jio may have in their network," Airtel in a statement said.
- In the recent past, after Jio’s commercial foray on September 5, there has been a bitter spat between the two telecom giants over points of interconnection which the former allege causing call failures for its newly-acquired subscribers.
- "Till date, we have provided over 17,000 PoIs to Jio and this capacity is sufficient to serve over 75 million customers, based on the forecast provided by Jio to Airtel, and will also ensure that the quality of service (QoS) is maintained," Airtel said. "This is well ahead of the timeframe, since there are currently only 25 million customers making calls to the Airtel network from Jio."
On June 21, Mumbai-based Reliance Jio had asked existing players to provide support to interconnect an estimated 22 million of its customers by June this year, 50 million by September, 75 million by December and 100 million subscribers by March 2017.
While Airtel claims to have been providing PoIs to Jio, even before the commencement of latter’s commercial operations, rival Jio sought regulatory intervention that led Trai to penalize India’s top carrier for Rs 1,050 crore for violating Quality of Service (QoS) norms.
