Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India have told the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that they are willing to start discussions with Reliance Jio on the issue of inter-connection, thereby paving the way for an amicable end to the ongoing corporate war among the telecom companies.

The telecom regulator asked the incumbent operators to ensure that the quality of service offered to customers does not suffer due to this dispute. TRAI, however, did not issue any official order in the matter.

TRAI had convened a meeting of Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone and Reliance Jio after customers of Reliance Jio’s new 4G network faced disruption in service due to lack of adequate inter-connection with incumbent operators.

Drama unfolded at the meeting with the TRAI Secretary asking Cellular Operators Association of India Director-General Rajan Mathews, who had turned up uninvited, to leave. After exiting the room, Mathews alleged that the regulator was acting on RJio’s behalf. TRAI later issued a stern letter asking Mathews to withdraw his statement.

At the meeting, both sides put forward their respective position. While RJio sought action against the incumbents for not giving adequate number of interconnection points, the latter explained that giving interconnections to RJio would be expensive as the free voice call offer would lead to asymmetric growth in traffic.

“This is a fight for justice, a fight for customers. Not just Reliance Jio customers or Airtel or Vodafone, but for all Indian customers,” Mahendra Nahata, Board Member, RJio, said.

He said the company has asked for the “right quantum” of interconnection. “It is for TRAI to look into the matter. No time-frame has been indicated by TRAI,” Nahata said.

Airtel said, “We continue with our efforts to augment the hundreds of points of interconnect (PoIs) already given to Reliance Jio... so that customers are not inconvenienced.”

But it also urged TRAI to “find a way to curb the massive asymmetric traffic” to ensure that receiving networks are not abused by “a tsunami of free traffic.”

The interconnection user charge (IUC), it said, was an “effective tool” in TRAI’s hands. “We hope they will use (it) judiciously,” it said.

PoI is the physical place where two networks connect, which ensures seamless communication when a user of one operator calls a user of another operator.

Meanwhile, COAI said the incumbent players had agreed to negotiate “reasonable” points of connectivity that can be provided to RJio. It said the operators would now hold bilateral negotiations, and, following an agreement, would have 90 days to comply.

“These bilateral negotiations will start in a couple of days. It is definitely progress... We hope this will set the basis for a resolution,” Mathews said.

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