TRAI imposes huge penalty on Airtel, Vodafone, Idea on Jio issue

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The Indian telecom regulator TRAI on Friday slapped heavy penalties on three telecom network operators — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular — for not providing sufficient points of interconnections (PoI) to Reliance Jio.

TRAI also said the action of the three telecom network operators showed “ulterior motive to stifle competition”.

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In three similar letters to the three telecom players, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said it has recommended a penal action of Rs 50 crore per licence service area (LSA) (except Jammu & Kashmir) where PoI congestion exceeded the allowable limit of 0.5 percent as reported by Airtel / Vodafone / Idea Cellular through emails in September 23.

TRAI penalty on big 3

Airtel Rs 1,050 crore
Vodafone Rs 1,050 crore
Idea Cellular Rs 950 crore

The penalty on Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India was Rs 1,050 crore each for 21 telecom circles.

The penalty on Idea Cellular was Rs 950 crore for 19 LSAs.

The regulator had received a letter from Reliance Jio Infocomm on July 14, stating that the incumbent telecom operators were not providing it with sufficient E1s (interconnect points, with technical parameters).

After exchanging several communications with the three operators, the TRAI arrived at the decision that each of them has been non-compliant to provide enough PoI between them and Reliance Jio.

The Indian telecom regulator also stated that the incumbent telecom operators were in “non-compliance of the terms and conditions of licence and denial of interconnection to Reliance Jio appears to be with ulterior motive to stifle competition and is anti-consumer.”

TRAI defined the act of the incumbent players as against public interest. TRAI on Friday said non-compliance of terms and conditions of licence warrants recommendations for the revocation of licence.

“However, the Authority is mindful of the fact that revocation of the licence will entail significant consumer inconvenience and therefore in view of the larger public interest involved, the Authority recommends penal action…”

Jio recently said it has added 16 million 4G subscribers for its Welcome Offer. But many mobile phone users are complaining about lack of SIMs, costly SIM, poor network, lack of affordable 4G phones and configuration issues.

The TRAI penalty will be a lesson for Indian telecom operators, though the fine is not too heavy if we consider their financial muscle. Indian telecom network operators need to work together to grow their business in India. TRAI and DoT should not be their governing bodies to grow their own business.

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