News
Reliance Jio accuses ‘incumbents’ of not providing sufficient interconnection points.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday met with Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular to hear both sides of the interconnection dispute that has arisen since Jio began offering free voice calls to all-comers.
Livemint reports that Jio has accused incumbent telcos of not providing sufficient points of interconnect (POI), which is causing problems for Jio customers trying to place calls to other mobile networks. Jio’s rivals refute the accusation.
"We have put forth our point of view to [the] TRAI. It is for [the] TRAI to look into the matter," said Jio board member Mahendra Nahata, in the report.
"There is no timeframe indicated by the TRAI," he added.
Jio sent a shock wave through India’s mobile market earlier this month when it announced that it will offer free voice calls and cheap data to anyone who wants it until the end of 2016.
Despite the service being available to all-comers, Jio insists that it does not amount to a fully-fledged commercial launch because it is still conducting network tests.
Jio’s rivals disagree, and have accused the telco of masquerading commercial services under the guise of a trial.
