Bharti Airtel on Friday said the company will continue its effort in augmenting points of interconnect to newly-launched Reliance Jio, as was agreed upon in the bilateral agreement.
Airtel is fully compliant with all regulatory guidelines and has always provided points of interconnect to other operators, the company said in an emailed statement.
In an apparent dig at Jio's freebies, Bharti Airtel requested the telecom regulator to discuss a fair interconnection usage charge regime and ensure that the practice of pricing is in compliance with the 30th Amendment of the Telecom Tariff Order of 2004.
Airtel's statement came after a meeting with TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) and executives of other telecom operators regarding the interconnection port feud surrounding the launch of the Reliance Industries owned telecom and data venture Reliance Jio.
The largest listed Indian telecom operator also urged TRAI to control the wave of free traffic prompted by Reliance Jio's free trial period and free services for the first four months after commercial launch on September 5.
We urge the TRAI to find a way to curb the massive asymmetric traffic to ensure that receiving networks are not abused by tsunami of free traffic. In this regard, IUC is an effective tool in the hands of TRAI, which we hope they will use judiciously.Bharti Airtel statement
The company expects that the traffic levels will “inevitably” balance themselves when Reliance Jio commences charging for their services, which is expected by January 1, 2017.
Also Read: TRAI Meets Warring Telcos, Keeps COAI Out Of Meeting
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