\tThe Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) told officials it was unable to recommend the reduction of a huge fine it wants levied on Bharti Airtel and the constituent parts of Vodafone Idea for hindering Reliance Jio\u2019s access to interconnection points, Business Standard reported.<\/p>\n
Its dismissal followed a request for a reassessment\u00a0on the size of the charge [1], which amounted to INR30.5 billion ($445 million) in total, from India\u2019s Digital Communications Commission (DCC).<\/p>\n
TRAI said it was bound by rules restricting its ability to revisit recommendations which had already been submitted, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n
Last month the DCC backed TRAI\u2019s conclusion Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had restricted access [2] to interconnection points by Reliance Jio during its formative months. This, TRAI argued, essentially formed a cartel and meant many of the calls on the newcomer\u2019s network dropped.<\/p>\n
However, given the current severe price-pressures facing mobile operators in the Indian market, the DCC called for the size of the penalties to be slashed from INR500 million per service area to between INR5 million and INR50 million.<\/p>\n
Although the DCC has the final say, it had sought to get TRAI\u2019s backing for making a reduction.<\/p>\n
Since the entry of low-cost challenger Reliance Jio several of India\u2019s operators have suffered sizable cuts in revenue and profit with some selling-up or merging operations.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/asia\/asia-news\/indian-officials-seek-reduction-of-interconnect-fines\/
\n[2] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/asia\/asia-news\/indias-top-three-operators-face-fine-over-jios-dropped-calls\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) told officials it was unable to recommend the …<\/p>\n
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