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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Reliance+Jio+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Reliance Jio</a> Infocommm is blaming its rivals <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bharti+Airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bharti Airtel</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+India+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone India</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Idea+Cellular&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Idea Cellular</a> for not providing enough <keyword id="3809800" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="points-of-interconnection">points of interconnection</keyword> (PoIs), which is worsening the <keyword id="2819282" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Call-drop-issue">call drop issue</keyword>. 
 Even though <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> said it will provide additional PoIs, <keyword id="3576212" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio-Users">Reliance Jio users</keyword> are having a tough time to make calls. <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> officials told ET, “We hope Airtel, Vodafone India and <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword> will enhance the PoIs sufficiently to meet their license obligation of QoS (quality of service) with immediate effect and maintain these parameters on an ongoing basis.” 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mukesh+Ambani&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mukesh </a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mukesh+Ambani&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Ambani</a>-led Reliance Jio said that the No.1 telecom company, didn't act "for the last several weeks" on the Jio's periodic requests for more PoIs. 
 
"Necessary details have been provided to Airtel from time to time, highlighting the urgency of the requirement and the impact on Quality of Service parameters. However, no action was taken for the last several weeks, resulting in non-compliance of TRAI regulation on quality of service which mandates that POI congestion should not affect more than 1 call in every 200 calls made," Jio told ET. 
 
According to Jio, out of every 100 over 75 calls from Jio networks have failed. More than 22 crore calls made from Jio networks to Airtel networks have failed and around 52 crore calls in total, made from Jio to the three major operators - Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, have failed. 
 
"<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=RJIL&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">RJIL</a> has been raising the issue of insufficient POIs as anti-competitive aimed at hindering the entry of a new operator. We have repeatedly appealed to the incumbent operators to create a fair and reciprocal framework of coopetition that is good for India and good for Indian customers," Jio told ET. 
 
"Voice traffic on its (Jio's) network is in line with industry trends and as expected for any new operator in the early days of operations of any new operator, there are more outgoing calls than incoming calls," Jio told ET. Further adding it said, “that the telco's outgoing traffic was less than two calls per customer per hour even during peak traffic period - spread across all operators - which requires only a reasonable number of PoIs.”

Reliance Jio users experience over 52 crore call drops, blame it on Airtel, Vodafone and Idea

<ul><li>Reliance Jio is asking TRAI to either reduce or remove Interconnect Usage Charges (IUC). </li><li>TRAI had initially planned to remove IUC charges from January 1, 2020 under the Bill and Keep (BAK) regime. </li><li>Airtel and Vodafone Idea were against the move, citing huge costs involved in allowing incoming calls from the Jio network.</li></ul> Reliance Jio approached the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to either reduce or remove Interconnect Usage Charges (IUC). Currently, IUC is charged at 6 paise per minute by the operator on whose network the calls terminate. In October, Reliance Jio announced that it will start charging 6 paise per minute for calls that are made to other networks. This change was made on packs which promised complete free calling earlier. Jio-to-Jio calls however continued to remain free. At the time, Jio noted that this charge would be levied until TRAI removes IUC charges. TRAI had initially planned to remove IUC charges from January 1, 2020 under the Bill and Keep (BAK) regime. However, incumbent operators Airtel and Vodafone Idea were against the move, citing huge costs involved in allowing incoming calls from the Jio network. Last week, TRAI held an open discussion on “Review of Interconnection Usage Charges”. Jio’s representative at the discussion held that since voice calling symmetry has been achieved between Jio and the incumbent operators, there was no need to levy IUC charges anymore. The company <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/jio-urges-trai-for-removal-or-reduction-of-iuc-charges-4645571.html">held</a> that the BAK regime should be implemented as planned from January 1, 2020. The implementation of this regime would bring down IUC charges to zero. Airtel and Vodafone Idea opposed this argument and demanded that IUC charges of 6 paise per minute should be levied for the next three years at least. Reliance Jio alleged that Airtel and Vodafone Idea were diverting their incoming voice call traffic to 2G or 3G networks to inflate their voice call costs. This could hold some merit as we’ve experienced that incoming voice calls on Airtel’s network are routed via 2G, which puts the Jio 4G network on pause temporarily even on a compatible dual 4G VoLTE smartphone. Airtel however denied these allegations. Vodafone Idea, on its part, did not expressly deny this and stated that subscribers were free to port out of their network. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mukesh-ambanis-jio-faces-backlash-for-tariff-increase/articleshow/71573757.cms">Reliance Jio is paying the price for being the ‘second SIM’ of choice</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/reliance-jio-airtel-and-vodafone-idea-may-raise-tariff-soon/articleshow/71757089.cms">Whether you use Jio, Airtel, Vodafone-Idea, get ready to pay more for mobile services— sooner than later</a>

Reliance Jio asks TRAI to either reduce or remove IUC charges

Telecom major <keyword id="1553175" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone-Idea">Vodafone Idea</keyword> Limited (VIL) on Tuesday announced that it has selected <keyword id="10875" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IBM">IBM</keyword> Services to help it embrace open source at scale across the enterprise by implementing the <keyword id="10099317" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="big-data-platform">big data platform</keyword> on open source Hadoop framework. The <keyword id="10099318" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ibm-big-data">IBM big data</keyword> platform helps businesses address the "full spectrum" of big data business challenges. BM Services implements data transformation with open technologies to propel Vodafone Idea's hybrid cloud strategy. Vodafone Idea has a need for large scale data transformation with a focus on architecture modernisation, open-source adoption and using predictive analytics for data modernisation. By partnering on this implementation, IBM is helping VIL transform the way data is optimised and delivered to partners, employees and internal systems. Fragmented, siloed data can now be streamlined for seamless data availability, the tech giant said. VIL will also be able to combine insights from the Big Data Platform and better leverage cloud native technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance revenues, reduce costs and elevate customer experiences, IBM said. "The modernised and future-ready data platform is helping VIL get daily actionable insights to make strategic and operational level decisions effectively," Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India/South Asia, said in a statement. "IBM and VIL team worked together in challenging times of COVID-19 lockdown to seamlessly execute a complex and enterprise-wide deployment remotely," he said. Currently, insights derived from the data are leveraged for management dashboards, campaign management, network analytics, usage traffic analysis, product analysis, amongst others. Vodafone Idea said that the deployment will help millions of its customers with customised and faster service launches. "Along with IBM we have implemented many first-of-kind projects and the big data and analytics engagement is one such initiative," said Vishant Vora, Chief Technology Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited. "The open source approach has helped us in modernising infrastructure and network experience, helping our people and partners in quicker business decision making." IBM last week announced that it will separate its managed infrastructure services unit of its global technology services division into a new public company. The yet to be named new company is currently codenamed "NewCo". SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/oneplus-chinese-company-co-founder-carl-pei-exits-company-one-day-ahead-of-flagship-mobile-launch/articleshow/78634270.cms">OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei reportedly exits company one day ahead of flagship smartphone launch</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/banking-stocks-like-sbi-hdfc-axis-icici-and-other-share-price-in-the-stock-market-ahead-of-the-moratorium-verdict/articleshow/78633357.cms">SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and other bank stocks tread caution as they wait with bated breath for Supreme Court verdict on moratorium</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/india-china-disengagement-looks-unlikely-with-more-chinese-troops-reportedly-being-deployed-at-the-border/articleshow/78632960.cms">Chinese PLA is reportedly rotating troops despite India's insistence on disengagement from friction points along the border</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/mars-will-appear-bigger-redder-and-brighter-on-october-13-and-wont-get-this-close-to-earth-again-until-2035/articleshow/78556539.cms">Mars will appear bigger, redder, and brighter on October 13 — and won’t get this close to Earth again until 2035</a>

Vodafone Idea inks pact with IBM to implement a big data platform

New Delhi, Nov 15 () Reliance Jio on Friday said that delaying the implementation of zero call connect charges beyond January 2020 will hurt affordability of telecom services in a sector where users have benefited from free voice calls.
 Reliance Jio Director Mahendra Nahata said that the ratio of incoming and outgoing call is now at par with each other and traffic asymmetry can, therefore, no longer be the reason to delay implementation of Bill and Keep (BAK) regime (that is zero mobile termination charge from January 1, 2020).
 Traffic symmetry indicates that telecom operator will not have any outstanding balance of interconnect usage charges (IUC) against other networks.
 Speaking at Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) open house on IUC issue, Nahata said Airtel had expanded 4G network and Vodafone Idea too is talking about expanding their 4G network.
 "We are not considering any profit or loss, but opposing it on the basis of principle. Criticising the decision of government or regulatory authorities from a distant location is beyond our understanding. Therefore, please take a decision after due diligence on all the points that we have raised," he said.
 Nahata questioned data being shown by telecom operators and alleged that the subscriber traffic is being diverted to 2G, 3G network to show cost of voice is high.
 Nahata said that in case Trai does not favour implementation of BAK regime from January 2020 then at least interconnect usage charges currently at 6 paise should be brought down.
 "When you had implemented 6 paise charge, 4G traffic was one per cent. Today that traffic is much higher so the costs must have come down," he said.
 A Vodafone Idea official said that consumers today have the option of moving to other networks through mobile number portability (MNP).
 "Today customers have option of MNP and they can move to other network. It is wrong to say that any operator is holding back customers on 2G network," the official said, demanding that the mobile call termination charges should continue.
 Airtel said that IUC should not come down to zero and the BAK regime should be postponed by at least three years.
 Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel's Chief Regulatory Officer Ravi Gandhi rejected allegations of data fudging terming them as "misplaced" and said that people at times used the company's SIM into second slot of mobile phone which generally supports 2G or 3G network.
 He said there are 40 crore consumers are on 2G network and they use low-cost feature phones. Shutting down 2G network will mean depriving such consumers of telecom services. PRS MBI MSS ANS
ANS

Delay in implementation of zero call connect charges to hurt service affordability: Jio

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (<keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TRAI">Trai</keyword>) is not an easy nut to crack and the telcos need to register this fact seriously. In a strict warning to India's top telcos and <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> Infocomm, Trai has given an ultimatum to resolve the contentious interconnect matter among themselves. Trai’s order comes with further warning that it would act if quality of service drops and consumers suffer, as reported by The Economic Times. 
 
"If quality of service suffers, if consumers suffer, Trai will take action. That is Trai's job," a senior official told ET on Friday after the meeting. "The telcos should sit across the table and resolve it." 
 The war has been waged by the top telcos like Bharti <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, Vodafone and Idea against the newly launched Reliance Jio Infocom. Mukesh Ambani owned Jio had sought an adequate number of PoIs for their service to which the top telcos didn’t show much interest in. Citing traffic imbalance, the telcos have refused any additional PoIs to Jio. However after Friday’s meeting, an official of a top telco confirmed that they are willing to talk to Jio and provide ‘reasonable number’ of additional PoIs. 
 
What are these PoIs? PoIs are used to connect calls from one telecom operator to another. Jio has complained to Trai the other day that due to other telco’s non cooperation in giving adequate PoIs, the call quality is suffering. 
 
 
“We have put forth our point of view to Trai. It is for Trai to look into the matter. There is no time frame indicated by the Trai," Jio board member Mahendra Nahata told the ET after the meeting. "It is a fight for justice for Indian customers, and not those of Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone or Idea." 
 
In a statement, market leader Bharti Airtel said it will provide Jio more PoIs, as per the bilateral agreement signed between the two operators, so that customers aren't affected. Incumbent telcos had signed interconnect pacts with Jio back in 2014, confirmed the ET report. 
 
Traffic Tsunami 
 
While common mass are happy to know about the freebies of Reliance Jio’s welcome pack, Airtel is quite nervous about the asymmetric traffic tsunami that would result from Jio. Airtel has asked Trai to intervene to curb the asymmetric traffic that might result in abusing the network. 
 
"In this regard, IUC (interconnect usage charge) is an effective tool in the hands of Trai, which we hope they will use judiciously," Airtel said, adding that Trai should make sure pricing by any telco is "IUC compliant, non-predatory and non-discriminatory". 
 
Airtel expects that once Jio starts charging its customers from January 2017, there would be no issue. "The traffic will inevitably get to a more balanced level and PoIs will be less of an issue," said an Airtel release. Top telcos have earlier said they do not possess the financial or network resources to handle the imbalance of the huge traffic generated through Jio's network due to the free offers. 
 
According to the news report by The Economic Times, Trai Chairman RS Sharma did not attend the meeting, which was led by Secretary Sudhir Gupta. Other Trai members, representatives of incumbent telcos that included Bharti Airtel's Chief Regulatory Officer Ravi Gandhi, Vodafone India's P Balaji and Idea Cellular's Rajat Mukarji, besides Nahata of Jio were present. 
 
Rajan S Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents the top telcos as well as Jio, wasn't allowed to be part of the meeting, since only the three telcos were invited, marking a dramatic start to the crucial talks. At the meeting, incumbent telcos said given the volume of traffic from Jio, they can't give interconnect at 14 paise a minute which is very low. 
 
Jio countered saying the rate had been preset. Incumbents also said that traffic from Jio could go up to 4,000 minutes per user a month given the free voice offering, which would be practically impossible to handle, while Jio's officials said its traffic currently is 450 minutes per user a month. 
 
Where lies the end of the drama? 
It is believed that Trai has been able to bring some kind of end to a stalemate between Jio and incumbent carriers and the interconnection issue is expected to be sorted out within 90 days. 
 
Trai asked to increase points of interconnections incrementally. The regulator's concern was to improve service quality," Mathews said. "We expect Reliance Jio to start discussions with incumbent players and regulator should look into incremental numbers." During the meeting, incumbent telcos had sought clarity on whether the services of Jio were now "commercial". 
 
When told they were, incumbents pointed out that Jio then can't offer free services for more than 90 days. Sources at incumbent telcos also said they believe adequate PoIs have already been given for Jio which currently has some five million users, but are willing to give more once 70% capacity is reached for those existing PoIs. According to them, one PoI can support 12,000 subscribers, with Airtel itself having provided 700 of them. "As and when they (Jio) reach 70% capacity, they can request us, and we will provide incremental PoIs within 90 days, according to the ET news report.

TRAI plays the boss,
issues warning to Jio and other Telcos to settle their issue

New Delhi, Jan 17 () Telecom operator Reliance Jio on Friday posted a 62.5 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 1,350 crore in the three months to December 2019, as it added more users and saw per subscriber earning rising on back of an increase in tariff.
The company's strong performance comes at a time when its rivals are staring at billions of dollars in statutory dues, leading to record losses in the previous quarter.
Reliance Jio had posted a net profit of Rs 831 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.
The company recorded an increase of 28.3 per cent in its operating revenue at Rs 13,968 crore compared to Rs 10,884 crore in the year-ago period. 
"Jio has continued on its unprecedented growth journey receiving overwhelming customer response for best in class mobile connectivity services. Jio is also determined to redefine the wireline infrastructure, home entertainment and enterprise market in India with its FTTx services which bundle best-in-class connectivity with bouquet of digital content and services," RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said in a statement. 
He said a truly transformational and disruptive digital services company has also been set up to drive the next leg of growth.
Reliance Jio subscriber base increased by 32.1 per cent as on December 31, 2019 on year-on-year basis to 37 crore and average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs 128.4 during the quarter.
The ARPU was up compared to Rs 120 in July-September quarter reported by Reliance Jio, however, it was lower than Rs 130 recorded by the company in the year ago period. The company was able to arrest decline in ARPU during the reported quarter. 
Total wireless data traffic on company's network increased by 39.9 per cent to 1,208 crore GB on Y-o-Y basis during the quarter and voice traffic during the quarter jumped 30.3 per cent to 82,640 crore minutes.
The company cushioned itself from mobile call termination charges by imposing six paise on outgoing calls to network of competitors for recharges done by Jio customers effective October 10 onwards. 
"Jio became a net recipient of access charges within two months of implementation of IUC tariffs, with outgoing traffic in overall offnet traffic reducing to 48 per cent by the end of the quarter," the company said.
The average consumption of data per subscriber increased Y-o-Y basis to 11.1 GB from 10.8 GB but it was lower when compared to 11.7 GB reported by the company in second quarter of current fiscal.
The company during the quarter made provision of Rs 177 crore for adjusted gross revenue while its rivals have to jointly pay over 1.47 lakh crore for the same.
These AGR liabilities arose after the Supreme Court in October last year upheld the government's position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses for calculating the annual AGR of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fees to the exchequer.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected older telecom player's plea for review of its AGR order after which Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea said they are evaluating filing a curative petition before the apex court for relaxation on penalties and payment deadline.
Vodafone Idea -- which is staring at unpaid statutory dues of Rs 53,038 crore, including Rs 24,729 crore of spectrum dues and Rs 28,309 crore in licence fee -- has already warned of shut down if no relief is given.
"If we are not getting anything then I think it is the end of story for Vodafone Idea," its Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had said last month.
The statutory liabilities in the case of Bharti Airtel adds up to nearly Rs 35,586 crore, of which Rs 21,682 crore is licence fee and another Rs 13,904.01 crore is spectrum dues (excluding the dues of Telenor and Tata Teleservices). This week, the Sunil Mittal led company raised USD 3 billion through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) and FCCB route to pay for the statutory liabilities.
Dues dating back 15 years, as per the October order, have to be paid by January 23. PRS MBI MKJ

Reliance Jio net profit jumps 62.5% to Rs 1,350 cr in Dec qtr

<ul><li>Last week, Jio increased its calling tariffs by 6 paise per minute. </li><li>India Ratings says that the industry’s average revenue per user (ARPU) will go up by 15-18% after Jio’s price hike. </li><li>Jio’s data tariffs are 25-30% cheaper than that of Airtel and Voda-Idea. </li><li>Jio is a net payer of IUC charges, whereas Voda-Idea and Airtel are net-receivers of IUC receipts--as calls originate from Jio and land on other networks. </li></ul> It had to happen one day. But Reliance Jio’s move to increase tariffs came sooner than expected. Even as Jio, Vodafone Idea and Airtel are teasing each other over it on social media, and thousands are trolling Mukesh Ambani for ‘breaking his free’ promise---it is good news for the industry. At least that is what India Ratings believes. Jio charging its customers 6 paise per minute on its ‘free’ calling package—can help increase the rising margins of the industry. The sector’s average revenue per user will go up by ₹9, and in general increase by 15-18% according to the rating agency. Like Jio says in its tweet, this amount will be going to Vodafone Idea and Airtel as Jio can no longer get away without paying telecom department’s mandatory inter-connection (IUC) charges. This is the charge paid to a network which is receiving calls, by the network from where a call originates. In an ideal situation, the amount all networks pay each other should balance out—considering their subscriber number is around the same. However, that is not to be. Jio has the most to lose. The offnet minutes of usage is 64% for Jio, while it is at 41% for Voda-Idea and 45% for Airtel. “Also, of the total offnet voice traffic, net incoming minutes as a proportion of total offnet minutes stands at negative 29% for R-Jio whereas the same is 9% and 19% for Airtel and Voda-Idea respectively, implying that network voice traffic imbalance is significantly higher for R-Jio compared with peers. Hence, R-Jio remains a net-payer of IUC expenses, whereas Voda-Idea and Airtel are net-receivers of IUC receipts,” says India Ratings. Basically, calls originate from Jio and land on other networks. Jio users continue to keep other network SIMs It means that more people are using Jio SIMs for its cheap data plans, and also for making the ‘free’ calls it offers. It makes sense as Jio’s data tariffs are 25-30% cheaper than that of Airtel and Voda-Idea. Yet, users have not given up their basic SIMs which belonged to other networks, and continue to exist. These numbers are ‘primary’ phone numbers which are key to their bank accounts and other necessary identifications. And, few seem to believe that cheap tariff party will not continue to exist. All mixed with the ease of owning multiple SIMs have played against Jio. Had subscribers chosen to keep only Jio connections and get rid of others, they would have ported to it. Looks like not many have done that.

Reliance Jio is paying the price for being the ‘second SIM’ of choice

Mukesh Ambani-led <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> Infocomm is going to ask for additional points of intersection during its meeting with Bharti <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, <keyword id="6354923" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone-India">Vodafone India</keyword> and <keyword id="6354924" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Idea-Cellular">Idea Cellular</keyword>. 
 
As per reports, Reliance Jio users are facing call drops issue due to which the telecom player is going to ask for additional points of intersection in an one-on-one meeting with the top three incumbent telcos. 
 
In return of additional intersection points, the incumbent players are expected to demand for a mobile termination charge higher than the 14 paise/minute fixed by the sectoral watchdog due to the huge inbound traffic from Jio. 
 
Reliance Jio may ask for around 7,000 additional points of intersection on an immediate basis. 
 Recently, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (<keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TRAI">TRAI</keyword>) had asked Reliance Jio and top three incumbent players to resolve the interconnect matter. 
 
The TRAI warned it would intervene if quality of services declines and consumers suffer. 
 
But, the top three telcos said they would provide additional PoIs as needed, they are in no mood to give in to Jio's demands for additional PoIs on the latter's terms. 
 
Last month, Jio had demanded 12,500 intersection points from the top three incumbents to initially meet the needs of 22 million customers, but the GSM biggies only released 1,400 PoIs to the 4G entrant. 
 
"We understand that the PoIs provided by us to Reliance Jio is about double of what they need based on the current exchange of traffic with all other operators in India. Having said that, we have invited Reliance Jio for a discussion to understand their additional requirements and will be happy to provide more PoIs," an Airtel spokesperson told ET over email. 
 
"Our current allocation of PoIs would in normal circumstances cater to 4.65 million such subscribers, indicating a buffer of 57% in calling capacity, (but) Idea has now decided to proactively, expand capacity with Jio to over 6.5 million subscribers, with the release of 196 additional POIs, shortly,” Idea told ET.

Airtel, Idea, Vodafone may give additional points of intersection to Reliance Jio but only on one condition

As the uproar over <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Facebook%E2%80%99s+Free+Basics&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Facebook’s Free Basics</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Airtel%E2%80%99s+Zero+Plan&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Airtel’s Zero Plan</a> was fading, India’s two largest telecom operators <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> and <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> have questioned <keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="TRAI">TRAI</keyword>’s proposal to have a non-telco platform offer Indians free internet. The telcos say this could create a monitor to regulate content. 
 
The story so far 
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) re-opened the debate on net neutrality recently with a new pre-consultation paper, inviting public discussion on the topic. Previous <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=TRAI&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">TRAI</a> papers issued in March 2015, December 2015 and May 2016 have raised questions on free data, differential pricing and net neutrality. 
 
Back in February, TRAI upheld net neutrality and forbid telecom operators from offering discriminatory tariffs for data services. However, in May TRAI came with a new consultation paper that offers ways to offer free internet within the spirit of net neutrality. Seems like the telcos don’t like it. 
 
What is Vodafone/Airtel’s problem? 
“If free data can be offered by a non-telecom service provider, then there is no basis or rationale for the authority to exclude the telecom operators, especially in view of the fact that a telecom operator agnostic platform could also indulge in the gate-keeping functions,” the Vodafone representative said to TRAI. 
 
The idea <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=TRAI&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">TRAI</a> came up with is to have a telecom agnostic platform which can facilitate app developers to promote their websites by offering incentives to users for making their websites popular. Vodafone argues that if the telecom service provider (TSP) agnostic platform is to be regulated, “then why can a similar platform not be offered by TSPs who already operate under a regulatory framework.” 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone</a> said that while TRAI can regulate a TSP and not a non-TSP. Hence, if any such free data framework is to be developed, it should be structured through TSPs. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Airtel</a> said it’s untrue that TSPs try to curb the freedom of the internet. It said that telcos hold a valid telecom licence, and only they can have a business under India’s regulatory framework. 
 
Why is this important? 
If telcos get to charge <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=WhatsApp&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">WhatsApp</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Skype&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Skype</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Viber&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Viber</a> for voice-calling over the internet, or any other services, these apps would be forced to charge Indians to make up for this loss. Only the telcos stand to gain from this case, especially because whether it is voice calling or texting, data over the internet is treated the same. 
 
Also, now that India is picking up momentum in terms of startups, this move is likely to trigger an anti-competitiveness where the big players would get bigger, and the smaller ones would suffer unnecessarily. Net neutrality is good for startups. Period. 
 
Why should we be worried? 
There’s a tight rope between judicious traffic management and unfair interference, and a naïve customer might not be able to make one from the other. Power in the hands of ISPs has never turned out well consumers globally. Think <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Netflix-Comcast&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Netflix-Comcast</a>. 
 
In case you don’t know, few years back, Comcast deliberately dropped <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Netflix&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Netflix</a> speeds in the US. This forced the video-streaming company to pay money to Comcast. In case you don’t want your video-streaming speeds to drop one night, you know what to do. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

India’s two biggest telcos don't want TRAI’s free internet
plan. Here’s why it matters

(Photo Source: unsplash.com) <ul><li>Expressing his concern over the recent ban on porn sites imposed by the Indian government, <keyword id="2812177" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Corey-Price">Corey Price</keyword>, vice president of <keyword id="1607136" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pornhub">Pornhub</keyword>, told Indian Express, saying it only lead people to land on ‘risky sites containing illegal content’. </li><li>He also said that even though it is early to predict the full impact of the ban, but the traffic has declined. </li><li>India recently asked Internet service providers to ban 827 porn websites. </li></ul>Criticising India’s recent ban on 827 porn websites, a Pornhub executive has warned the move could prove counterproductive. Corey Price, vice president of Pornhub, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/banning-porn-sites-a-disservice-to-people-of-india-willing-to-work-with-government-pornhub-5470198/">told </a>The Indian Express that the ban could lead to people visiting ‘risky porn sites that may contain illegal content.’ He also emphasised that the Indian constitution does not have any specific law that is against watching pornography in India and the move was a “disservice” to the people of India. Corey reportedly said the company is willing to work with the Indian government to come up with the solution to address the problem. In October, India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) instructed all the Internet Service Providers to impose a ban on 827 porn websites. Major service providers including Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea implemented the ban as per the directive. However, the people reportedly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-banned-more-than-800-porn-sites-last-week-but-people-have-already-found-a-way-around-it/articleshow/66412436.cms">found </a>ways to get around the ban. Pornhub, for instance, launched an altered URL especially for its users in India just days after government pronounced its decision. According to Corey, while the long-term impact of the ban wasn’t immediately clear, he acknowledged that traffic has fallen since the restriction came into action.

You Searched For "vodafone idea traffic" and got 10 results

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India’s two biggest telcos don't want TRAI’s free internet plan. Here’s why it matters

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India’s ban on porn sites may lead users to visit ‘risky porn sites that may contain illegal content’: Pornhub exec

BI India Bureau

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