New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) rethink to scrap interconnect usage charges is unwarranted, arbitrary and anti-poor and not only affects the credibility of the authority but also sabotages the government’s Digital India mission, Reliance Jio has alleged. At the time Trai decided to scrap IUC, Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had resisted the change, while Jio was in favour. Scrapping the IUC or reducing it would benefit an operator such as Jio which has more outgoing traffic than incoming calls. Airtel and Vodafone Idea, which are currently battling shrinking revenue streams thanks to Jio’s cut-throat tariffs, have welcomed Trai's regulatory rethink. Jio, however, has alleged that perfect traffic symmetry is statistically impossible and Trai’s rethink will result in “protectionism which is bound to result into technology stagnation" which will jeopardise Digital India programme.

Source: Mint October 20, 2019 06:22 UTC